Patlabor: On the Run
by Desaix
Summary: Chapterized due to popular demand. Now Complete. Asuma is framed for a crime he didn't commit.
1. Part 1

On the Run  
A Oneshot Patlabor Fanfic by David A. Tatum  
Disclaimer: Insert legal junk here...  
  
Author's Notes:  
I keep saying that there's plenty of room for fanfiction in Patlabor. I  
really have no idea why it isn't a more popular series... well, in addition  
to Patlabor: Personal Files (for which I've planned 66 episodes and (so  
far) 9 OAVs), I've got MANY more ideas for Patlabor fanfiction. So,  
because I was bored and wanted to try my hand at a shorter Patlabor fanfic  
(one which I might be able to finish rather quickly), I came up with this  
thing to work out some of the ideas I CAN'T fit into P:PF.  
Enjoy!  
-------------------------  
  
Noa munched her assorted tempura happily. A good, home-cooked dinner from  
her mother beat anything she'd ever had at SV2 headquarters. Sure, it  
would be nice if she could work off the meal by waxing Alphonse, but she  
wasn't on the reclaimed land at the moment. No, for the first time in  
months, she was actually visiting her home. And this time, she wasn't  
AWOL.  
  
The reason was simple- with the first unit receiving their Peacemaker  
labors, it wasn't necessary to have the Ingrams on call twenty-four hours a  
day; because of that, more vacations were going to be scheduled for the  
second unit. This was the first of many of those vacations, and so far Noa  
was enjoying herself, despite the absence of Alphonse.  
  
"Say, do you remember Akemi from down the street?" her father asked.  
  
Noa thought about it for a second. "Oh, yeah! Did she get past those  
college entrance exams she was studying for?"  
  
"She decided not to take them. She got married to Mamoru- you should  
remember him: the very well-to-do computer technician? At any rate, with  
his job and the money she got as a dowry from his parents, she didn't need  
to go to college."  
  
Noa's face fell. She knew what was coming next. Why did her father ALWAYS  
have to bring up marriage when she visited? Not only did he sound like a  
broken record, but he ALSO was spoiling her vacation. "I'm NOT quitting my  
job to look for the hypothetical perfectly handsome and wealthy husband,  
dad," she stated firmly.  
  
Her father sighed. "Why do you insist on such a dangerous career? You  
KNOW that if you ever get hurt your chances of ever getting married are  
pretty much gone. There've already been SEVERAL incidents where you might  
have been killed already! WHY do you insist on risking your life time  
after time for a job that BARELY pays you enough to live off of and which  
no-one ever will respect you for?"  
  
Noa glared at him. "Dad, how many times do I have to tell you I love  
working with labors? I don't WANT a job which won't let me use them!"  
  
Her dad was almost in tears by this point. "But even if you foolishly  
insist on playing around with those stupid giant robots, there's any number  
of safer careers involving labors out there, and many of them are much  
closer to home! Construction work, maintenance services, all sorts of  
things. Labors are even being used in airports to load baggage and on  
fishing ships to help haul in the catch. I'd even say the MILITARY is a  
safer career than the police, because the military gets called in a lot  
less. But instead, you pick the most dangerous job out there for labor  
use, and you insist on staying in it, despite almost being killed several  
times. What's worse, you aren't even able to see us more than once or  
twice a year with this job, when there are other careers- even in labors-  
much closer to us! Why?"  
  
"You wouldn't understand," Noa growled, sulking. "Excuse me, I'm full. I  
think I'll take a bath and go to bed." With that, she stood up and stalked  
out of the room.  
  
She scrubbed herself off furiously in the shower, trying to calm herself  
down. It wasn't until after she'd made it to the furo that she succeeded,  
however.  
  
When she finally quelled her anger, she actually wondered about what her  
father had said. 'I like Alphonse,' she thought to herself. 'That's what  
I always say whenever he asks me. But he's right- I already know I'm not  
going to be able to keep Alphonse forever, and I've accepted that I'll lose  
him one day. So why do I stay in the SV2? Dad is right- I could hurt  
myself seriously one day. Some days, even Alphonse isn't enough to make  
the job worth it... so why do I do it? Why do I put up with the long  
hours, the risks to my life, being so far away from my family, and the  
constant fear that I'm just not good enough? Why?'  
  
*****  
  
"Dammit, son!" the father of Asuma Shinohara shouted. "I am NOT doing  
anything wrong- those instances were occasions where I was using acceptable  
business practices to acquire those smaller companies. I am NOT being a  
corporate bully! What I'm doing is something any other business in Japan  
would do!"  
  
Asuma himself snorted. "You shouldn't believe yourself to be perfectly  
virtuous just because everyone else is corrupt, too." He grabbed his  
jacket and cap. "That does it, pop, I'm out of here. I'm tired of  
fighting with you all the time, and I need to get back to base, anyway."  
  
"Fine! Leave! But you'll never see one dime from the company from my  
inheritance!"  
  
Asuma didn't even look back. "You've made that threat so many times, I  
don't think I'd be in your will right now if you were serious." He opened  
the door heading out of the house. "I'm so tired of all the fighting, I  
hope to never have to deal with you again. I won't be back." The door  
slammed behind him.  
  
Mr. Shinohara sighed. "Stupid boy- don't you know why I built this  
company?" He shook his head. "You'll just never be good enough to run it,  
will you?" The phone rang. "Get that for me, will you, Tsukai?"  
  
Tsukai, the servant, nodded. "Certainly, sir," he said, leaving the room.  
  
Shinohara continued to grumble about the abstinence of his son while Tsukai  
was out of the room until the doorbell rang. Rolling his eyes in  
frustration, he stood up and made he way over to open the door himself.   
One servant was USUALLY enough to do all the chores, but from time to time-  
like this occasion- more than one thing had to be done at one time. He  
opened the door.  
  
Tsukai returned from the phone, planning to tell his master that the phone  
was a wrong number, to see him waiting on the open door.  
  
"I thought you said you weren't coming back again!" Shinohara growled.   
"What are you- ohmyg-"  
  
The concussion from the explosion that followed threw Tsukai through the  
wall and rocked the foundations of the house. Shinohara, however, wasn't  
so lucky.  
  
*****  
  
Noa sighed, seeing how upset Asuma was. He was always this way whenever  
his father came up- surly, upset, and difficult to deal with. He'd just  
gotten back from the Shinohara mansion, apparently, and this was when he  
was at his worst. She walked up to him as they made their way to the  
officers lounge (where they were all hoping to spend the last few minutes  
of their vacation time), hoping to take his mind off things and maybe to  
comfort him a little. She knew better than to try suggesting a  
reconciliation again.  
  
"Hi, Asuma," she said.  
  
"Hi, Noa. How was your vacation?" he asked, desperate for any kind of  
distraction.  
  
Noa shrugged. "Fine for a while, but then my father started bugging me-  
eep!" she cut herself off mid-thought, not wanting to bring up parents at  
all. "Had all kinds of fun skiing and eating our famous Hokkaido crabs. I  
thought you were coming down to join me?" she teased. She hadn't really  
been expecting him- while they'd mentioned it once or twice, they hadn't  
worked out any details.  
  
Asuma shrugged. "Next vacation for sure. Pop monopolized me this one, but  
he certainly won't next time around."  
  
They were still a short ways away from the lounge when Ohta heard Asuma say  
those words. "Asuma! There you are- come quick! There's a story on the  
TV you need to see!"  
  
"Huh?" he said.  
  
Without waiting for Asuma to comply, Ohta grabbed him and dragged him at a  
run back to the lounge, Noa following along as fast as she could. When  
they got there, the TV was broadcasting a very important story.  
  
"We finally have a camera at the scene. If you follow our reporter, you  
can see the path the shell took as it killed Mr. Okami Shinohara, the  
Founder and President of Shinohara Heavy Industries. The nation mourns the  
loss of this great man...."  
  
Asuma continued trying to listen to the rest of the report, but for some  
reason the words just didn't make any sense. His knees started to buckle,  
but an arm- Noa's arm- went around him to support him and keep him from  
falling. He nearly dragged her down with him, but somehow she was able to  
support him.  
  
"Excuse me, Mr. Shinohara," a voice said from behind him. "Can we talk to  
you for a moment? We have a few questions...."  
  
Asuma turned to see a pair of police investigators waiting for him outside  
of the room, accompanied by Captain Gotoh. "Um, sure."  
  
"We'd like you to come down to the station with us," they said as he was  
leaving. "As you probably already know, your father has been murdered.   
There are a few questions we have regarding your possible involvement...."  
  
*****  
  
"Asuma's being arrested!?" Noa screeched. She'd been there when he'd been  
taken away, of course, but she'd just thought they were going to ask him a  
few questions and that would be it. She'd had no clue that he was a  
suspect.  
  
"There was apparently some evidence against him," Gotoh explained. "The  
servant witnessed Asuma's father open the door and make comments indicating  
that he saw Asuma there, seconds before the blast occurred. Furthermore,  
he testified that they had had a serious fight during that day, where Asuma  
claimed he didn't want to deal with his father anymore. Finally, the  
murder weapon was a firearm from a police labor- an Ingrams revolver, as a  
matter of fact. Asuma is one of the few people who would have access to  
such a weapon. It's believed he had an accomplice, however, as it is  
assumed he was not the one operating the labor."  
  
Noa frowned. "So the whole case is based on the testimony of one man and a  
gun that any number of people who may be associated with the police could  
get?"  
  
Gotoh sighed. "I admit that seems to be a rather circumstantial case, but  
Asuma did not offer an alibi nor could he offer any suggestions for anyone  
else who might have a motive. Since Asuma was the only one they could find  
who had the means, motive, and opportunity to kill Mr. Shinohara, they  
arrested him."  
  
Noa's eyes widened. "But that can't be right! I mean, Asuma's not like  
that at all... besides, he was shocked when his father's death was  
broadcast on the news. He didn't know about it! You saw him, Ohta- you  
remember how surprised he was, don't you?"  
  
Ohta, however, was remembering something else. He remembered that, when  
trying to find Asuma, he overheard him say that his 'Pop' wouldn't be  
monopolizing him on future vacations. How could he claim that unless he  
knew that his father was dead? The more Ohta thought about it, the more he  
was convinced that his reaction in the lounge was staged.  
  
"Noa," he said hesitantly. "I... think he did it."  
  
Noa flashed him a look of betrayal. "You, too? But you know Asuma would  
never do something like that!"  
  
Now that Ohta had firmly convinced himself that the police were right,  
however, he was a lot less hesitant in his reply. "No, I don't! In fact,  
Asuma's such a punk kid, I wouldn't put it past him! Besides, who else  
would it be?"  
  
For some reason, Noa was seized with rage at that comment. Tears of anger  
in her eyes, she reared back and slapped Ohta, nearly knocking him to the  
ground. "How DARE you!" she shouted.  
  
Gotoh's eyes widened. The situation was escalating much too quickly. "Now  
hold it, hold it! Calm down!" he cried in a panicked voice, stepping in  
between the two of them. In a much more subdued tone, he continued,  
"Asuma's guilt or innocence is not for us to decide. At the moment, he's  
only ACCUSED of murder, not tried and convicted. In the meantime, we'll  
have to reorganize to fill the hole that his absence leaves us with."  
  
Noa clenched her fists, trying to calm herself down. "If you'll excuse me,  
sir, I'm not in the right state of mind to hear about this. Good bye," she  
growled out through clenched teeth.  
  
Angrily she made her way towards the hangar bay, planning to console  
herself with Alphonse. As she walked, the thought about some of the things  
Asuma had told her when they were visiting his brothers grave.  
  
"He killed himself," he had said. "I think it was his last act of  
resistance against our father. It was a stupid thing to do- dying never  
solves anything."  
  
Dying never solves anything. That was what Asuma believed. He thought  
suicide was a stupid thing to do BECAUSE dying never solved anything. If  
he believed that, then he certainly wouldn't kill anyone, would he?  
  
"Of course not," she said to herself. "It just doesn't make sense. Asuma  
knows better than to do something stupid like that." She paused. "But  
no-one will believe him but me, will they? I mean, I'm the only one who  
knows him that well, and all the evidence is pointing to him... I've got to  
do something."  
  
So resolved, Noa made her way to the hanger with newfound determination.   
She had to come up with a plan, and Asuma wasn't there to think for her.  
  
*****  
  
Hiromi couldn't believe all that was going on. No-one was acting like  
themselves- Asuma was a cold-blooded murderer (supposedly), Noa had gotten  
physically violent in a confrontation with Ohta, and, most recently, Sakaki  
had shocked them all by suggesting that the mechanics load the labors on  
their trucks (just in case there was a call) and then go on home for some  
r&r... though he certainly seemed angry when he gave those orders. Perhaps  
he was just as mad as Noa about Asuma's arrest, and wanted some time alone  
to calm himself.  
  
Hiromi himself was rather angry at that, as well. How could Ohta believe  
Asuma was a murderer? And being arrested for such a flimsy set of  
evidence, as well. It just didn't seem to make any sense.  
  
He walked by the door into the hanger bay, and heard a noise coming from  
the direction of the parked labor transports. 'That's funny,' he thought.   
'No-one's supposed to be in there right now.'  
  
Deciding to investigate, he quietly made his way towards the disturbance.   
Finally, he caught sight of the intruder- Noa was underneath the console of  
the transport carrier, fiddling with something under the wheel. It didn't  
take long for Hiromi to figure out what she was doing.  
  
"It isn't possible to hot-wire one of those things," Hiromi said quietly.  
  
Noa tried to sit up, and bumped her head into the wheel. "Ow!" she cried,  
wincing. "Hiromi, what are you doing here?" she said nervously. "And I  
wasn't trying to hot-wire it- I was just, uh, practicing some of the skills  
the maintenance squad was teaching me!" she continued, not very  
convincingly.  
  
"I heard a noise, and thought I'd take a look." He paused. "So why are  
you trying to steal Alphonse?"  
  
"Hiromi..." Noa began, realizing how pointless further protests of her  
innocence would be. She wasn't sure what to say, though- she had prepared  
what she was going to say to anyone else, but she'd just overlooked him.   
She decided to try and explain. "I can't let them do this to Asuma. I've  
got to get him out of jail- there's something really wrong about the way he  
was arrested. I mean, they basically imprisoned him on hearsay... there's  
something suspicious about that. Either the investigators don't care to  
look any further than Asuma, or... or there's something really wrong going  
on. If it's the later, I don't think Asuma's going to stand a chance of  
getting a fair trial...."  
  
"You know we'll have to stop you," Hiromi said simply.  
  
Noa looked down. "Yeah... but once I get Asuma free, it won't matter. I  
won't need Alphonse any more..."  
  
"You won't?"  
  
Noa's eyes widened when she realized what she'd said. "I don't mean never-  
I mean, I won't need him to finish my plans. I can just leave him behind  
somewhere safe, and wait for you guys to pick him up and take care of him  
for me. Asuma and I can then hide out until we figure out who it is who's  
doing these things to him."  
  
Hiromi nodded, sighing. "Well, you can't do it without this, I don't  
think," he said, producing a key and tossing it over to her. "Good luck.   
Take care of him."  
  
"Don't I always protect Alphonse?" Noa asked.  
  
Hiromi just smiled, walking away. "Alphonse wasn't who I was talking  
about," he said to himself, making certain that Noa wouldn't hear.  
  
*****  
  
"You have to realize, Ohta, that women don't really like it when you  
contradict them so fiercely," Takeo was saying.  
  
"I was just telling her the truth- that Asuma's a punk and that the  
evidence convinced me that Asuma's guilty," Ohta, holding an icepack to his  
cheek, grumbled.  
  
Takeo raised an eyebrow. She found that assertion of Ohta's hard to  
swallow, as well. She didn't know Asuma as well as most of the others, but  
what she'd seen of him showed him to be a very honest, forthright, and  
decent man. A bit rough around the edges, perhaps, but certainly no  
murderer. "That may be, but the way you put it was-"  
  
She was cut off when the siren came on warning of a possible call to  
action. "We have a 999. Repeat, a 999. All personnel on station please  
report to your duty station. This is NOT a drill."  
  
A 999. The one call everyone felt was impossible- a call no-one would ever  
want to answer. It meant that a member of the SV2 had stolen a labor with  
criminal intent. It meant they would have to fight one of their own.  
  
"Shit!" Ohta exclaimed, running out of the room.  
  
Takeo thought about that. "A 999? Hmm..." Whistling, she strolled her  
way out of the room, a slight smile on her face.  
  
*****  
  
Shinobu stared over where the second unit was getting ready, a scowl on her  
face. Gotoh wasn't driving his men at all, and only Ohta was moving like  
he wanted to go out. Sure, she knew that Noa was his top pilot, but still-  
that was no excuse for not stopping her when she committed such a serious  
crime.  
  
She was about to walk on over to him to reprimand him when Gomioka ran up  
to her and saluted, drawing her attention.  
  
She saluted back. "Yes, Mr. Gomioka?" she inquired.  
  
"Captain Nagumo, ma'am," he said. "I regret to report that it is  
impossible for us to answer this call."  
  
Shinobu was surprised. "Oh? Why?"  
  
"None of the labor transports are working, ma'am. They appear to have been  
sabotaged."  
  
"Sabotaged?"  
  
"The starters aren't working at all."  
  
Shinobu's eyes widened. "But Ms. Izumi wouldn't have had time to sabotage  
all the carriers for both units AND steal her labor after the mechanics  
left... the mechanics!" She cursed.  
  
It seemed as though Noa had more help then perhaps even she realized. The  
mechanics were on her side, and so, it seemed, was most of Unit 2. They  
probably all knew what Noa was going to do before even she did.  
  
She almost laughed. Of course they would- and she couldn't blame them,  
really, either. After all, she didn't believe Gotoh's protege was guilty  
any more than they did.  
  
*****  
  
The warden of the prison which contained Asuma's holding cell smirked to  
himself. It wasn't often he got cops handed over to him. It was even less  
often that he was specifically instructed to place those cops in with the  
hardest criminals in his pen. Apparently, some of the higher-ups were  
hoping that they wouldn't have to bring the cop to trial, since that would  
be a very embarrassing thing for the force, and thought that he wouldn't be  
able to survive some of the... attentions... of those rougher criminals who  
might hold a grudge against a former cop. For some reason, the politics  
involved amused him.  
  
He stood up from his desk, grabbed a cigarette, and walked over to his  
office window. He lit up and took a puff. As he blew the smoke out the  
window, he spied one of his two Type 97 Pythons guarding the outside. They  
were too old for serious police duty any more, and they couldn't afford to  
keep them very well maintained, but they looked impressive enough to keep  
the prisoners in line.  
  
As the warden looked out the window, he noticed that some sort of  
disturbance seemed to be forming, as the Python started running in one  
direction. Just at that moment, his phone rang. He moved to get it, but  
then there was a huge crash outside. The warden ran back to the window,  
trying to see what was going on.  
  
An empty labor transport had apparently crashed into the wall, and it  
appeared to still be pushing. Much to his surprise, the prison's two  
labors were engaged in combat- apparently with another police labor, an  
Ingram. The Ingram dismantled the two Pythons, and then stormed over to  
his window, drawing its gun and pointing it right at him.  
  
"What cell is Asuma Shinohara in?" a female voice boomed out through the  
labors speakers.  
  
"Er... Cell 231 in cell block A," he said.  
  
The labor put away its gun and bowed slightly. "Thank you," the woman said  
politely before sending her labor into a run again, bursting through the  
doors into the prison. If the building hadn't been recently modified to  
allow labors to move through it, there might have been serious damage to  
the prison. As it was, the shattering of the doors shook the building to  
its foundation.  
  
The phone continued ringing.  
  
Moving as if in shock, the warden slowly walked over to it and picked up  
the receiver. "Hello?"  
  
"Ah, ah. This is Captain Gotoh of the Special Vehicles, Second Section.   
Am I talking to the warden?"  
  
"Um... yes, I'm the warden."  
  
"Good. I'm afraid that I have the duty to inform you that one of our  
officers stole an Ingram, and may be on the way to break her partner out of  
your prison. We would be on our way to help you, but along the way she  
sabotaged all of our other labors."  
  
"Uh... thank you for the warning," the warden said. "We'll... keep an eye  
out for her." Hanging up the phone, he looked outside at the wreckage of  
the two Pythons and the labor carrier.  
  
*****  
  
Asuma wasn't paying any attention to the commotion around him- he just had  
too much on his mind to care. His father was dead- murdered- and he didn't  
know exactly what he felt about all that. He never got along with his  
father- in fact, he downright hated him, most of the time. However, there  
were times when he actually was pleased to be able to see him. Like that  
time he and Noa visited his brothers grave....  
  
That was another point. With his father's death, there was no-one who he  
could call 'family.' Come to think of it, now that he was in jail, it  
wasn't likely he was going to see anyone who he might be able to call  
'friend' for some time, either. Ex-cops weren't exactly popular in prison,  
and it was unlikely anyone from the SV2 would be able to come visit him.  
  
The biggest question for him, however, was just why did they think he was  
the murderer? Sure, he and his father had gotten into a fight earlier that  
day, but he and his father ALWAYS had fights and he hadn't done anything  
before. Outside of that, he had no clue what, if any, evidence they might  
have had.  
  
"Hey, buddy," one of his cellmates said, approaching him. "What are you in  
for? Impersonating a police officer?"  
  
One weird thing about his arrest was that he wasn't allowed to change into  
his street clothes. Usually policemen, when arrested, were allowed to  
change out of uniform before being placed into a holding cell. Not so, in  
his case.  
  
Asuma wasn't really thinking clearly enough to realize the implications  
behind his answer, so he just said, "Nah. I really am a police officer."  
  
"Oh, you are?" the cellmate said, his voice becoming slightly more hostile  
as he moved in closer to Asuma. "Then why are you in here?"  
  
"I was accused of murdering my father." There seemed to be a loud crash  
coming from outside, and the floor shook.  
  
"Heh... guess that makes you a bit of a hypocrite, doesn't it."  
  
"What?!" Asuma cried, his brain finally catching up with the conversation.   
"No- I didn't do it."  
  
The man snorted. "Please- that's what we all say. Do you cops ever give  
us a break because of that? No... like I said, you're just a hypocrite.   
And we don't like hypocrites here."  
  
Asuma stood up, taking a defensive stance as the man and two of his  
companions advanced on him. He knew he was in bad shape, as all three of  
them were about twice his size. It wasn't very likely he'd survive the  
fight.  
  
Before that fight could begin, however, an Ingram burst into the cell  
block, paused, then drew a gun. "Leave him alone!" a voice boomed over the  
speakers.  
  
The attackers dropped back, surprised. Asuma just stood there, blinked,  
and turned to face the labor. "Noa?" he asked.  
  
Using one of Alphonse's hands to bend open the bars, she said, "That's me.   
Come on, let's go."  
  
"Noa, do you know what you're doing? I can't let you do this to yourself-  
erk!"  
  
The hand which had bent the bars open reached in and grabbed him. "I don't  
have time to argue," Noa said, putting away her gun. "We're getting out of  
here."  
  
Stopping only to bend the bars back to their original position with the  
hand which had held the gun, she ran off, carrying Asuma along with her.  
  
"Dammit," the prisoner who had confronted Asuma growled. "Someone broke  
him out before we could get him! Now we'll never get that ten million  
yen."  
  
*****  
  
On board the Sangria, a ship owned by Shaft Enterprises Division 7, a major  
construction project was underway. It was not the most ideal of conditions  
for labor construction, but it was very secret and, when the ship was in  
still waters, it was adequate for the builder's purposes.  
  
Richard Wong, the vice president in charge of Division 7 (a division Shaft  
Enterprises denies is still affiliated with it), smiled his usual smile as  
he surveyed the progress of his latest work.  
  
The chief mechanic strolled up to him. "Excuse me, sir. We're probably  
going to have it ready in a couple of days. I've wondered for a while,  
however... why are we rebuilding this thing? It succeeded in its mission,  
didn't it? What do we need it for, now?"  
  
"It only half succeeded. We managed to pull off the demonstration very  
well, but the second half of our mission is still on-going. We have yet to  
obtain the software of an Ingram. Until we obtain a copy of Ms. Izumi's  
movement disk, Shinohara Heavy Industries will be able to keep Shaft from  
dominating the field of advanced humaniform labors."  
  
The mechanic nodded. "Um... have you been paying attention to the news,  
lately?"  
  
Wong shook his head. "I'm afraid not- I've been rather busy in India until  
today."  
  
"Well... I don't think we need to worry about Shinohara Heavy Industries  
any more."  
  
Wong's smile slipped a bit. "We don't? Why?"  
  
"Um... well, see, Mr. Shinohara was murdered yesterday. They arrested his  
son for the crime, and now suspect his partner to have been an accomplice.   
With Shinohara dead and his son in jail, well... it's likely that their  
company is going to have some difficulties for a while."  
  
Richard Wong's smile fell completely. "His son is Asuma Shinohara,  
correct?"  
  
"Um, I think that's the name the papers are giving, yes."  
  
Wong's face hardened. "Hmm... I've studied Asuma and his partner, Noa  
Izumi, ever since I ran into them in a video game arcade almost a year ago.  
I like to think that I know them fairly well. Asuma Shinohara certainly  
does NOT strike me as the type of man to murder his father, even if they  
don't get along very well." He paused. "You've been in touch with the  
regional headquarters more recently than I have. You wouldn't happen to  
know if WE'RE responsible for this, would you?"  
  
"Um... there are rumors that we've had something big in the planning..."  
  
"Indeed." Richard Wong removed his glasses to massage his temples. "I  
have been called quite ruthless for my actions, and I've committed acts  
which break the law if it aided me in achieving my goals. However, I've  
never murdered a man in cold blood, nor have I ever framed one for one of  
my crimes." He turned to the mechanic. "Asuma may be a rival, but I also  
respect him, maybe even feel some sort of twisted friendship for him. It  
appears, however, that Shaft Enterprises is willing to go even further than  
I am."  
  
"What are you saying, sir?" the mechanic said.  
  
Wong's smile returned. "Well, if Shinohara Heavy Industries falls apart,  
I'm out of the job. It seems to me that it's in my best interest to aide  
Asuma in his legal defense. Where is he being held? I'd like to go see  
him."  
  
"Uh, well... see, his partner broke him out of prison."  
  
Richard Wong raised an eyebrow. "Ms. Izumi did that? Oh, my... perhaps  
she's more impulsive than I believed. Ah, well. I have some idea of where  
she might be trying to get to."  
  
*****  
  
Asuma sighed, standing at the foot of Alphonse as he waited for Noa to  
disembark from the labor. She had refused to listen to any of his protests  
while they were on the move, but since they seemed to have settled down for  
the night, he suspected he'd have a chance to actually get in a few words.  
  
"I'm afraid his batteries won't last much longer," Noa said, as she made  
her way down from the cockpit. "That's okay, though. They should be  
strong enough to get us the rest of the way to a nearby fishing village, if  
I conserve power. From there, we can rent a boat and travel out to  
Hokkaido. I know somewhere that we can stay which isn't on the maps nor in  
any official records, so we shouldn't have much of a problem staying there  
for a while. Then I'll finally be able to turn the thinking over to you,  
again," she said, finally reaching the ground. Wiping some sweat off her  
forehead, she walked on over to him. "I'll be quite happy when we get that  
far... I'm not used to be the part of this team that has to think."  
  
Asuma closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. "Noa, I really appreciate  
all you're trying to do, but... please, just give it up. Surrender to the  
police, and take Alphonse with you. I'm not worth ruining your life over.   
I can handle things myself."  
  
Noa shook her head, smiling slightly. She figured he'd say something like  
that. "Nope. Won't do it. Besides, I've already done so much that they  
won't be able to just sweep this under the rug if I went back. I'm in this  
as much as you are." She paused. "And from the look of things when I  
showed up at the prison, I'd say you wouldn't have been able to handle  
things if I hadn't been there."  
  
Asuma's eyes opened, focusing sharply on her. "Why? Why are you doing all  
of this for me? I mean, you know you'll never be allowed to pilot Alphonse  
again after all this, and you didn't even try to find out if I'd done it or  
not before you broke me out. Why?"  
  
Noa looked at him, her smile remaining. "Did you do it? Did you kill your  
father?"  
  
"I might have thought about it a few times," he said, looking rather  
uncertain at his own statement. "But no, I didn't."  
  
Noa nodded. "Well, I thought you wouldn't get much of a chance to explain  
your side. They arrested you entirely on hearsay, didn't even look at  
anyone else, and it looked to me like they stuck you in a cell with a group  
of people they knew would kill me. I think someone in the force is after  
you- maybe as part of a conspiracy. What evidence they've released seems  
to indicate that there was more than one person at the scene when your  
father was murdered, so there's obviously a number of people involved."  
  
Asuma shrugged. "Yeah, I figured something weird was up when they made me  
keep my police uniform on in the holding cell.... That still doesn't  
explain why YOU decided to do something about it."  
  
Noa sighed, her smile falling. "Perhaps... perhaps it was something my dad  
said to me on that vacation. He asked me why I was insisting on being in  
the SV2, when there were plenty of other jobs involving labors I could do  
that were less dangerous." She paused. "I couldn't give him a real answer  
then. I still couldn't, now. Part of it, however, was that... was that I  
didn't want to give you up. I knew that if I left the SV2, I'd lose you.   
I know I'm going to lose Alphonse one day, but you... I don't want to give  
you up."  
  
Asuma blinked, looking at her in surprise. "Is that it? You want to  
remain my forward, huh, even though I've now been accused of murder?"  
  
"Yes," Noa stated firmly. "I can give up Alphonse if I have to, but I  
can't give you up."  
  
Asuma blinked again. "Well... I suggest we NOT give up on Alphonse. One  
of the few things I know about my father's murder is that there was  
apparently a labor involved, as it was a labor gun that was the murder  
weapon. My guess is if we find out who it is, there's going to be a  
fight."  
  
Noa's eyes widened. "But... the batteries almost gone! Alphonse wouldn't  
be usable in a fight!"  
  
Asuma nodded. "Yeah, I know. Don't worry- I'll figure out a way to  
recharge him before we leave that fishing village you're talking about.   
Now, I also suggest we keep moving. I know you want to bunk down for the  
night, but chances are they'll be trying to track us down. The sooner we  
can get shipboard, the better."  
  
Noa nodded, and relaxed a little. "Okay. Oh, and Asuma?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I may be the only one who'll be able to tell you this," She took a couple  
steps closer to him and wrapped him up in a hug. "I'm sorry about your  
father."  
  
*****  
  
Gotoh looked through the folder, shaking his head.  
  
"Any word on where Alphonse has gotten to?" Shinobu, filling out a form,  
asked.  
  
Gotoh shook his head. "No. Lost track of them at a fishing port."  
  
"We could ask for satellite tracking, you know. An active labor gives out  
signals that can be located from space, which should stand out pretty  
easily in the middle of the ocean."  
  
Gotoh merely grunted noncommittally.  
  
Shinobu looked at him from her desk, curious. "What's wrong?"  
  
He held up the file, pointing out the cover. "I have the notes about  
Asuma's case here, and things just don't add up. I mean, they say that the  
murder weapon was a Patlabor revolver, and that Asuma was one of the few  
who had access to such a weapon. That's only partly true- he wouldn't have  
access to it unless he got the key to the weapons' locker from you or me.   
He certainly hasn't checked out any guns like that as far as I'm aware of.   
Did he get a key from you?"  
  
Shinobu blinked. "No... but wasn't there a lot of other evidence?"  
  
"Not as much as the news media's been lead to believe," he said. "There  
was evidence that Asuma was there that night, but that's not in dispute.   
He'd been spending the night eating dinner there, working on some sort of  
family reconciliation. He and his father got into an argument, but they  
had been having fights for years before, and it's never escalated to  
violence. Beyond that, the servant gave some testimony about Asuma saying  
he wasn't planning to come back, then Mr. Shinohara answering the door with  
the words 'I thought you weren't coming back', but the servant never saw  
the face of the person at the door. Still, the investigators ramroded the  
case against Asuma through."  
  
Shinobu chewed on the end of her pen in thought. "Perhaps they were just  
lazy. Maybe you should take it up with their superiors- if you can clear  
Asuma, then maybe this whole mess can be forgiven."  
  
"IF I can clear him. Just exposing the lackadaisical efforts of the  
investigators won't be enough, though. And I'm not sure that it was just a  
case of laziness. Some of the details behind Noa's break-out make me  
wonder."  
  
That caught Shinobu's attention. Before, it had just felt like one of  
their usual idle conversations, even if they were talking about a case that  
had been on their minds a lot lately. "You think he might have been framed  
by someone in the police?"  
  
"Now that you mention it..." Gotoh smirked, showing that was what he  
suspected all along.  
  
Shinobu smiled and shook her head. "Okay, I get the hint. So, what do we  
do about it?"  
  
"Us? Nothing."  
  
There was a knock on the door, and Takeo Kumagami came into the room. "You  
sent for me, sir?" she said, saluting.  
  
Gotoh nodded. "I have a job for you. I have a few questions about Asuma's  
arrest, and was wondering if you could talk to the investigators for  
me...."  
  
*****  
  
  
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	2. Part 2

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Part 2:  
  
"I didn't know you could sail a boat, Asuma," Noa said, working on  
tightening down the construction labor shell that they had fashioned around  
Alphonse to camouflage it. Somehow, between the two of them, they had been  
able to scrounge up enough material and financial resources to recharge the  
battery, rent a small fishing boat (that was just barely big enough for  
Alphonse and the two of them), and grab the shell of an old construction  
labor from a junk yard. Asuma had felt it was a bad idea for them to go  
traipsing through town with a Patlabor, considering they were going  
somewhere that there WERE no Patlabors. Noa was uncomfortable with the  
idea (especially since it meant that Alphonse would be getting rather  
dirty), but had agreed it was probably for the best.  
  
The end result of those purchases, however, was that they couldn't afford  
to hire a boat crew. Asuma, thankfully, had shown a surprising talent in  
navigating the boat, and now they were sailing through a port just outside  
of another small fishing village- this one on Hokkaido.  
  
"Heh... one of my few somewhat HAPPY memories of life with my father. We  
used to go boating as a family together- him, me, and my brother." He  
sighed nostalgically.  
  
Finishing up with the panel, she moved to sit next to him at the rudder.   
"Just you guys, huh? What about your mom?"  
  
"I never knew my mom. She died giving birth to me."  
  
Noa decided not to stop asking him questions about his past. 'Sheesh,' she  
thought to herself. 'He never had a mother, his brother killed himself,  
and he was framed for the murder of his father. Talk about a hard life.'   
Unconsciously, she reached over and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.  
  
He didn't seem to notice, his mind elsewhere. "Say, Noa..."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Do you see that ship over there?" he said, pointing to a tanker that was  
docked in the port.  
  
Noa looked over where he was pointing. "Yeah... seems kinda out of place  
at a little shipping port like this, doesn't it?"  
  
Asuma nodded. "Yeah... not just that, but doesn't it look a little  
familiar, maybe?"  
  
Noa squinted, trying to see what it was he saw. "I dunno... maybe. All  
those ships look the same to me, though, so I wouldn't be able to tell.   
Why?"  
  
"I think I remember seeing it at the Babylon Gates."  
  
Noa went quiet. She had been certain she wasn't going to survive that  
incident. She was facing the Black Labor- the Griffin. Not only had it  
torn up Ohta's labor just days before, but it had also severely injured  
Asuma and then... it just escaped, totally unharmed.  
  
Noa fought her damnedest against the Griffin, but it still escaped again.   
She'd had a genuine nervous breakdown because of that incident, and had  
spent several more months trying to prove to herself that she was really  
good enough to pilot Alphonse. Then the brass started to threaten to take  
Alphonse away from her, and Noa was so panicked with fear that they would  
that she went AWOL, going home- to remind herself what it was like to say  
good-bye to past Alphonses. Asuma had actually tracked her down, and come  
to meet her. For some reason, just his presence gave her what she needed  
to return, and when the next battle between her and the Griffin came, she  
was able to handle it confidently.  
  
And she'd won. Which made his statement seem rather curious. "Could they  
have rebuilt it?" she asked.  
  
"Maybe," Asuma replied. "But we don't need to worry if they did. We've  
got our own problems to deal with right now."  
  
"So why did you worry ME about it!?" she cried, grabbing him in a choke  
hold.  
  
"Ack! Noa- I gotta steer the boat! Leggo!"  
  
*****  
  
Takeo shook hands with Inspector Matsui before sitting down across from him  
at the desk. "Captain Gotoh said you'd probably be... helpful... in this  
case."  
  
Matsui nodded. "Yeah, he phoned me before you got here. I assume he gave  
you the files I requested."  
  
She nodded, indicating the box she had with her. "Yes, sir. Lots of stuff  
to go through- what are they?"  
  
Matsui lifted the box she'd indicated, setting it down on his desk and  
pulling the top off. Taking out one of the hundreds of folders she'd  
indicated, he replied, "Records from the SV2's weapons locker. I'm trying  
to track down where the gun which killed Mr. Shinohara might have come  
from."  
  
Takeo's eyes widened in surprise. "Of course! Asuma COULDN'T have gotten  
the weapon out, so it had to have come from somewhere else!"  
  
Matsui nodded. "If we can find the actual murder weapon, we might be able  
to clear him."  
  
Takeo gestured towards the box. "Need any help?"  
  
Matsui shook his head. "Two people would just confuse things. You could,  
however, get started on another track for me."  
  
"What?"  
  
He handed her a piece of paper. "There's a warrant to investigate the  
phone records of the people involved in the initial investigation and  
decision to arrest. Get the records from the phone company and see if you  
can find anything... unusual... in them."  
  
"Like phone calls from people who might have an interest in ruining  
Shinohara Heavy Industries?"  
  
"Right."  
  
Takeo nodded. "Will do. Anything else?"  
  
Matsui nodded. "One more thing, but keep this under your hat. I suspect  
you'd advise Noa and Asuma to surrender to the police if you ever got in  
touch with them, hoping that the system would bail them out." He looked up  
at her meaningfully. "Don't. Gotoh's right- something weird is going on  
around here, and they aren't safe with the police. If you DO make contact  
with them... do anything you can to make certain no-one ELSE will,  
understand? And give that piece of advice to anyone else from your unit  
who you trust." He sighed. "Sad as it may sound, they're probably safer  
being fugitives on the run from the law than they are co-operating with the  
law."  
  
*****  
  
Asuma piloted Alphonse through the snowy woods under Noa's careful  
directions. They had been taking shifts piloting the labor so as to avoid  
fatigue, and his shift was almost over. Suddenly, the screens all turned  
red and a word in English started flashing on the main monitor. "Noa, the  
battery's running down. We've got no more than ten minutes of power left."  
  
Noa, wearing the headset radio while she watched the sun rise from her seat  
on Alphonse's shoulder, nodded. "That's all right. We're almost there-  
we'll make it without any problem."  
  
"We will?" he asked, surprised. "It certainly doesn't LOOK like there's  
anything around here- especially not with all the snow and trees and  
things. Where are we going, anyway?"  
  
"An old business venture of my late grandfather's that never got off the  
ground," she answered. "He wanted to try and start a ski lodge. He  
managed to get the lodge partially built, but ran out of money before he  
could finish it- not to mention to pave the road they had built for the  
construction equipment or the ski lift. The reason this place is so safe  
for us is that the property is STILL in my grandfather's families name  
instead of my- "  
  
"Won't it get cold?" Asuma asked, starting to get a little concerned. If  
it was unfinished, then chances were that there would still be drafts in  
the place. One of the big reasons he didn't like skiing was because he  
never liked getting cold.  
  
Noa shook her head. "No... after my grandfather passed away, my father  
repaired it and supplied it with a snowmobile. There's a finished ski  
lodge about a half hours ride away on a snowmobile, and so when we go  
skiing we usually stay here." She paused. "Take a right when you get to  
the bike path- that's the only way we usually can get up here."  
  
"Roger," he said. "Does the place have electricity or heat?"  
  
"It has a few propane tanks for heat and cooking and a diesel generator for  
power," Noa said as Alphonse turned to follow the bike path. "As well as  
some canned foods, some bottled water, and some other necessities. We'll  
have to conserve what we've got, though- we only store enough supplies for  
a couple weeks vacation at most, and we don't have any money to buy any  
more. We went to a different ski lodge this last vacation, and so no-one's  
been in the place for a few years, but the place is set up for spontaneous  
ski trips."  
  
"Hey, I think I see the building!" he noted. "Looks like Alphonse'll make  
it, after all."  
  
Noa nodded. "I told you so. Stop him here for a moment- I'll go on in and  
start the heater up, you take him around the right-hand corner of the  
house- there's a garage where we keep the snowmobile, and Alphonse should  
be able to park there if he knelt."  
  
"Sure thing," he said, bending Alphonse down slightly and touching the  
ground with his arm so that Noa could just slide to the ground. When she  
disappeared inside the front door, he moved Alphonse to where she'd  
directed, parking it in the garage- seconds before the power ran out.  
  
Asuma whistled to himself. "Nice timing," he said to himself, popping the  
hatch and departing the labor. What he saw made him rather curious- Noa  
had only mentioned one snowmobile, but there were three parked there.   
"Hmm," he commented, glancing around. As he'd feared, there were tracks  
into the garage from two of the snowmobiles. "And Noa's inside," he  
remarked. "Damn!"  
  
Running as fast as he could, he burst in after her, intent on rescuing her  
from whatever group had captured her.  
  
There she was, sitting (somewhat uncomfortably) and drinking tea with  
Richard Wong and Bud Reynard. "Ah, welcome, young Shinohara," Wong  
greeted. "It's about time you joined us. Bud and I have been waiting here  
for the two of you for quite some time."  
  
*****  
  
Ohta burst into Captain Gotoh's office. "Captain, I strongly request  
permission for some emergency target practice."  
  
Gotoh raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What emergency is it this time?"  
  
Ohta looked at Gotoh like he was totally missing the obvious. "Izumi's  
treachery, sir! You know that we'll have to have a tangle with her at some  
point, and I have to be prepared!"  
  
Gotoh sighed. "We currently aren't even certain that Noa still HAS a  
usable labor which would require our involvement," he noted, trying to  
placate him. "After all, she abandoned the labor carrier and her spare  
battery, so she had no way to replace her old battery and, without the  
carrier, it would be very difficult to recharge the current one. Even if  
she didn't abandon her labor, it's unlikely that she has one which she can  
use."  
  
"But they could charge them in a town!" Ohta complained. "All it would  
take would be a power socket and an appropriate extension cord, which they  
should have with them!"  
  
Gotoh nodded. "True, but it's unlikely they would be able to do that very  
often. My guess is that she's merely trying to keep Alphonse with her than  
to keep him effective to fight with. You know Noa...."  
  
"I thought I did," Ohta muttered.  
  
"At any rate," Gotoh said, "Your request is denied. We aren't able to  
requisition more bullets until the new year, and the way you use them we've  
only got a two months supply left."  
  
"But, Captain-"  
  
"Dismissed," Gotoh said, turning his attention to his paperwork.  
  
Ohta clenched his fists and snarled, but he'd had enough arguments like  
this to know that any form of protest was useless. "Very well, Captain,  
but I KNOW you're mistaken. Noa and I will have to fight- it's our  
destiny."  
  
*****  
  
"I've already eliminated the evidence which allowed me to find you here,  
and my delivery people have already left after supplying you with an extra  
months worth of food, propane, spare diesel gasoline, and two spare  
batteries for your labor- plus a specially designed battery charger to make  
recharging your battery more efficient," Wong was saying as Asuma sipped at  
the tea provided for him. "I've made arrangements for one of my men to act  
as a messenger- he'll be staying at the ski lodge a few miles from here- in  
case we need to contact each other."  
  
"Uh huh," Asuma said skeptically, frowning. "Why, exactly, did you decide  
to help us?"  
  
Wong turned his smile up a notch, almost as if competing with Asuma's  
frown. "Would you believe that I'm doing it because I think of you two as  
friends?"  
  
Asuma didn't even flinch. "This from the man who shot Takeo Kumagami at  
Harumi after being her lover in Hong Kong?"  
  
Wong's smile completely disappeared, and a slightly menacing expression  
replaced it. "I did NOT, nor would I EVER shoot Takeo. That was my  
security man, and I had him transferred the next day. I also prevented  
Shaft Enterprises from attacking her in the hospital- I would appreciate it  
if you NOT bring that up," he growled. With some difficulty, he managed to  
get the anger out of his face. However, he was unable to completely  
replace his smile. "Yours is a case similar to that. Shaft Enterprises  
has done something I totally disagree with- they murdered your father and  
framed you, who I really DO consider a friend, for it. There was nothing I  
could do to prevent that bullet from hitting Takeo, just as there was  
nothing I could do to stop your father from being murdered. But I stopped  
my associates from attacking her in the hospital then, and so I'll make up  
for my associates crimes against you now."  
  
Asuma couldn't help but believe him, though he was still cautious. "And I  
should trust you about this because?"  
  
Richard Wong laughed, his smile returning to what it had been. "My dear  
Asuma, you have no choice BUT to trust me. But if you want to know my more  
self-centered motivations, I should point out that my current job is spying  
on and eliminating competition. They went over my head, and it appears  
they may be trying to put me out of the job. You could always consider it  
revenge."  
  
That caused Asuma to become even more suspicious. "Are you sure you aren't  
STILL trying to 'spy on and eliminate' competition?"  
  
Wong laughed again. "Of course I am. It is always best to face a known  
opponent than an unknown one. It is still uncertain who is in charge of  
Shinohara Heavy Industries with your absence. Only if you're put in charge  
will I be able to know what to expect from you."  
  
Asuma opened his mouth to protest, but he couldn't form any words in  
response. Noa, however, had her own questions.  
  
"You aren't going to try and fight me again, are you?" she asked Bud,  
shifting uncomfortably.  
  
"Of course not, Sis!" he replied enthusiastically. "I don't hurt people  
when they're down. Besides- you beat me fair and square last time. No,  
now we're playing on the same team."  
  
Wong finished sipping his cup of tea. "Well, time for Bud and me to go.   
I'll begin an investigation to see if I can find who it is who framed you,  
and then we'll see if we can find some other evidence together. You two  
just hang out here and have fun together- Bud insisted I give you a care  
package to entertain you."  
  
"Um... okay," Noa said.  
  
"Come on, Bud- time to go," he said, standing up. "We've got work to do."  
  
"See you, sis!" the kid said, leaping to his feet and waving to Noa. "Hope  
to see you again soon."  
  
"Um, see you again soon," Noa echoed hesitantly.  
  
Asuma stopped Wong before he left. "Suppose Noa and I want to conduct our  
OWN investigation?" he demanded.  
  
Wong just shook his head in amusement. "And how would you do that? I  
mean, you can't do any investigating from here. If you really want, you  
can leave here the way you came to conduct one- I'm certainly not holding  
you prisoner here- but your best bet is probably to stay right here and let  
me do all the work for you. Don't worry- we'll come and get you when it's  
safe." He paused. "You're wise not to trust me completely, but you really  
don't have much choice, now, do you? You two are safe here- take comfort  
in that, and let me do the rest."  
  
Asuma finally let him go, then turned to find Noa going through a couple of  
boxes. "What are those?"  
  
"I think it's the 'care package' Bud wanted us to have," she said, opening  
up the first box. "Huh... this box is full of nothing but batteries.   
Wonder what's in the other box."  
  
Asuma knelt down next to her and opened the second package for her.   
"Hmm... I think those batteries are for these things."  
  
"Eh?" Noa asked, looking into the box he had opened.  
  
"A portable TV set- powered by batteries. A lamp, powered by batteries. A  
few manga. Oh, and a battery-powered Headgear (TM) MiniGame System with...  
um, Patlabor: the Video Game." He unpacked the box a bit further. "And a  
note addressed to you from Bud."  
  
He gave her the note.  
  
"Hi, sis," it said, "Here's something to keep you in practice. Maybe  
you'll be able to reach level 10 by the time all of this is taken care of.   
Don't worry, sis- we'll avenge you!"  
  
*****  
  
There was a knock on the door. "Come in," Gotoh said, not looking up from  
his paperwork.  
  
Inspector Matsui entered the room, carrying two file folders with him.   
"Hello, Captain Gotoh. I have a couple questions about those records you  
sent down to me the other day."  
  
Gotoh nodded, gesturing to Shinobu. "I'm sure that if either Captain  
Nagumo or myself can help you, we will."  
  
Matsui nodded. "Upon a thorough combing of these files, I found two  
instances of labor revolvers being checked out and not checked back in. I  
was wondering if you knew if these incidents were just neglect or if there  
was a specific reason they weren't logged in as returned."  
  
"Well, I'll take a look at the folders, and see if I can suggest anything,"  
he said. Matsui handed Gotoh the files, and pointed out the two incidents  
he was referring to. "Hmm... well, considering the date, I'm fairly  
certain that both of these guns were involved in the incident between the  
Griffin and the Peacemakers. I recall that the report said both revolvers  
were believed to have both been tossed into the Tokyo Bay during the fight.  
Only one was recovered, however- that one in unserviceable condition. The  
other-"  
  
"Wait," Shinobu interrupted. "Did you say BOTH were thought to have been  
tossed into the bay?"  
  
"Yeah, that's what the official report I read said. Both revolvers issued  
to your Peacemakers were lost in the Tokyo Bay during the Griffin  
Incident."  
  
"But... only ONE was lost in the bay that time- the other one was dropped  
on the sidewalk. I thought the maintenance squad recovered it!" Shinobu  
said.  
  
Gotoh frowned. "Hmm... curious. Inspector Matsui, perhaps we need to  
investigate this little corruption angle a bit further back than I  
suspected...."  
  
*****  
  
"Um, Asuma," Noa said, returning to the main room. "I have some bad news."  
  
Asuma, who was disposing of the trash produced from their dinner, looked up  
at her. "Oh?"  
  
"Uh huh. I just checked the rest of the house... um, apparently mom and  
dad haven't been maintaining this place all that well lately. The only  
room which we can actually afford to heat is the bathroom and this room-  
their are holes in many of the windows, a partially collapsed ceiling in  
another room, and the back door is letting in a very bad draft."  
  
Asuma sighed, putting the last empty beer can in the trash bag. "Great,"  
he said. "Okay, I'll take the bathroom."  
  
Noa looked at him guiltily. "I can't make you do that- I'll take the  
bathroom."  
  
"Oh, just let me take the bathroom. This is your house, after all."  
  
"And you're my guest!" Noa countered. "I'll take the bathroom."  
  
"I already feel bad enough with you making yourself a felon for me," Asuma  
argued. "I'll take the bathroom."  
  
"Fine! We'll BOTH take the bathroom!" Noa shouted.  
  
Asuma blinked. "Um... Noa, think about that for a minute."  
  
"Uh... okay, maybe we won't both take the bathroom," she said, embarrassed.  
She thought about it for a second, blushed, and bit her lip nervously.   
"Still... it might be best if we shared a room for the night... I mean, who  
knows when we'll be getting more propane for the heater... we should  
conserve what fuel we've got."  
  
Asuma nodded slowly. "Um... well, I guess that makes sense. We should see  
if we can repair some of the other rooms, though." He paused. "If you  
promise not to hit me, I guess it would be all right. Show me where the  
futons are and I'll help you drag a couple here."  
  
"Heh heh..." Noa laughed nervously. "Um, that's the other piece of bad  
news I've got."  
  
Asuma looked at her in disbelief. "Don't tell me there's only one futon!"  
  
"No, there's plenty of futons!" she exclaimed. "Um... sort of."  
  
"Sort of?"  
  
"Well... see, remember I said there was a partially collapsed roof in one  
room? Well, see, some snow leaked through that roof onto the pile of  
futons, and so..."  
  
"They're all wet?"  
  
"No! They've dried off- well, most of them have. It's just that many of  
them are slightly rotted... or smell bad... or..."  
  
Asuma sighed. "Never mind. Lead the way- let's see how bad off these  
futons are, anyway."  
  
*****  
  
Takeo sighed, waiting for the taxi to stop. She'd almost gotten through  
the phone records she'd already obtained, and then Inspector Matsui called.  
He'd found more people to check up on, and pushed the date back for the  
records collection. So, off she was to the judge's office to get the  
warrant, and now she was headed back to the phone company to pick up the  
new files.  
  
As the taxi entered the parking lot, she noticed a HELICOPTER parked up on  
the roof of the building, illuminated by the setting sun. At first, she  
feared that it was part of Shaft Security Systems, but upon further  
inspection she was able to determine that while it was the same make of  
helicopter as those used by the 3-S, it was customized in a way that no 3-S  
person would ever allow (not to mention there was no 3-S logo painted on  
the side).  
  
"We're here, ma'am," the taxi driver said. "That'll be forty-five hundred  
yen."  
  
Takeo pulled a wad of cash out of her purse and handed it to the taxi  
driver. "Thank you. If you could return in a couple of hours to take me  
back, I'd be grateful."  
  
The driver counted the yen, noticing it was fifteen hundred yen larger than  
he'd asked for. Not much, true, but enough of a bribe to make him take  
notice of her request. "Of course, Ma'am."  
  
The taxi drove off as she made her way inside. After a few brief words  
with the receptionist (who had been expecting her), she went over to the  
same room for phone records retrieval she'd been at before.  
  
She stepped up to the counter at the records department, looking in to see  
who was there. Most of the staff was apparently missing, but there was one  
man in a suit bending over a computer terminal. Takeo couldn't make much  
out about him, but from what she could see she had the vaguely disturbing  
feeling she'd seen him before- and not at the phone company. Shaking her  
head furiously to clear it, she called over to the man.  
  
"Excuse me, can you help me?"  
  
The figure stiffened. In a nasal and strongly accented voice, he replied,  
"I sorry- only here from India researching phone systems. Can no help  
you."  
  
Takeo's eyes widened. She recognized that voice, even as (badly) disguised  
as it was. Leaping over the counter, she ran up to the man and turned him  
around by the shoulder. "Richard!" she cried.  
  
Richard Wong faced her with some of his usual smile, but it looked a little  
more nervous than usual. "Hello, Takeo. I should have known that little  
trick wouldn't work on you," he said.  
  
They just stared at each other for a few moments, neither one knowing what  
to say. Finally, Takeo's eyes turned cold. "You're under arrest for  
illegally infiltrating the private records kept by the phone company."  
  
Wong held out his hands, still smiling. "If you insist- and I won't trick  
you this time, either. But you'll be making a big mistake if you do."  
  
Takeo snorted. "And why would that be? I can't believe you're helping  
these people cover up who REALLY killed Asuma's father. I know you've done  
some pretty despicable things, but that's low, even for you!"  
  
That caused Wong's face- and hands- to drop. "I thought you knew me better  
than that. I'm not covering up any of the murderers."  
  
Takeo sighed. "I thought I knew you better than that, as well! But I  
found out a few years ago I don't know you as well as I thought I did. If  
that ISN'T what you're doing, then why ARE you here?"  
  
Wong's smile returned. "Why, I'm trying to do the exact same thing you  
are- get Asuma Shinohara off the hook." His smile grew. "After all, if  
Shinohara Heavy Industries collapses because their owner is in prison, then  
I'm out of the job."  
  
Takeo's eyes widened. There was a ring of truth to what he was saying.   
Still... "We can conduct our OWN investigation, thank you," she said,  
pulling out a pair of handcuffs.  
  
Wong nodded, holding out his hands again. "Oh, I believe you. I remember  
just how much attention you pay to detail. You're a great detective- I  
have no question that you'll eventually crack the case!" He paused.   
"However, since Asuma and Noa are under my care, they might find themselves  
in a little bit of trouble if I'm not there to help them."  
  
That stopped Takeo before she could put the cuffs on him. "What do you  
mean, 'under your care?'"  
  
"The two of them found this nice little cozy hideaway they could stay at,"  
he answered. "However, they have no money and only limited supplies. I  
found them there, and offered to make certain they were well stocked during  
their visit to that establishment. They did NOT want to trust me, but they  
didn't have much other choice." He sighed, putting on an unhappy look.   
"Sadly, it looks like their mistrust will be well founded, as I will be in  
prison and unable to provide the help I promised them."  
  
"Where are they?" she asked anxiously.  
  
Wong laughed. "Now, Takeo, you know I'm not going to tell you that. You  
can't arrest me while I have that information, and I'm certainly going to  
do what I can to keep you from arresting me." He paused. "Besides, I'm  
certainly not going to give their position away to the police!"  
  
Takeo remembered what Matsui had told her. "I won't give their position  
away, either." She paused, hesitating before she continued. "And I promise  
not to arrest you if you do. Perhaps... perhaps we could work together on  
this investigation, and I could help you work on getting Asuma and Noa  
to... relax... around you."  
  
Wong's face dropped- not in sadness, nor in anger, but in shock. That was  
an offer he certainly had not been expecting. "Are you... serious? You  
want to... work... with me, again?"  
  
"Only for the duration of this investigation!" Takeo declared. "And JUST  
working! Consider it a temporary pardon- but once this is finished, the  
best you can expect from me is a running start."  
  
He relaxed into his smile again. "Of course," he said. "Well, I'm very  
willing to work with you on this. Let's get those phone records you came  
for, and then we'll start looking through them, okay?"  
  
*****  
  
Asuma struggled to get comfortable. He stared across at Noa, who was  
relaxed comfortably on her futon- the ONLY futon in the house which hadn't  
been ruined by the weather.  
  
In order to make a bed for himself, he'd grabbed the two next-best looking  
futons they could find and doubled them up. It was still very lumpy,  
however, and smelly, and parts of both futons he was using had rotted. The  
blankets were much the same way- enough undamaged covers for one, really,  
so he had to make do with multiple ruined covers. It still left him cold-  
sure, they'd warmed up the room before going to bed, but it was dangerous  
to leave a propane tank burning overnight and they'd had to turn the heater  
off before going to sleep. There were no holes in the walls, so it wasn't  
cooling down too quickly, but the disrepair of the blankets he was forced  
to use didn't offer the protection needed to keep him warm. It didn't help  
that he was sleeping in his underwear- neither he nor Noa had a change of  
clothes on them, and so they'd been forced to make do with their underwear  
and some bathrobes as pajamas. None of the bathrobes fit Asuma, however,  
so he wound up using them as an extra blanket.  
  
As he studied Noa's apparently sleeping form, he sighed. It looked like  
she was very comfortable. 'Tomorrow,' he thought to himself, 'I'm getting  
on that snowmobile and heading over to the ski lodge to see if I can pick  
up a futon and some blankets from that contact of Wong's. And maybe a  
change of clothes or two, as well.' He paused. "And anything else that  
might be of use in making this place livable," he accidentally muttered  
aloud.  
  
"I'm sorry, Asuma," Noa said from her futon.  
  
"Noa? You're awake?"  
  
"I can't sleep- I keep wondering what we're getting ourselves into," she  
said. "I mean, we're working with the BLACK LABOR here- and we're working  
AGAINST all of our friends."  
  
"I know," Asuma agreed. "Do you regret helping me?"  
  
Noa turned her head to smile at him. "No. I'd have had an even harder  
time sleeping if I hadn't." She noticed him shivering slightly. "You  
cold?"  
  
"A little," he admitted. Unfortunately, his teeth chattered slightly when  
he said it.  
  
"Sounds like you're more than just 'a little' cold," Noa accused.  
  
"Well... yeah, okay, I'm cold," he said. "Not much I can do about it."  
  
Noa looked guilty. "I got the good futon... maybe I could give you the  
good blankets in trade?"  
  
"And have both of us uncomfortable?" he said. "No... keep the blanket."  
  
"But I'm the host- it's my job to make the guest feel comfortable."  
  
"And I'm the guest," he replied. "Do we have to go through this again?"  
  
"Let's just skip to the end- why don't we share?" she joked.  
  
Asuma, however, missed the humor in her voice. "You can't be serious!" he  
exclaimed.  
  
For some reason, Noa took offense at that. "Oh? If I was, what would you  
do?"  
  
He paused. "I... I don't know," he admitted. "I mean, I've had to share  
rooms- and sometimes futons- with the others in our unit, but..."  
  
"But?"  
  
"But you aren't just one of the other guys," he said.  
  
"Well, yeah- I'm a girl!"  
  
Asuma propped himself up on an elbow, turning to face her. "It isn't just  
that you're a girl, though."  
  
That surprised Noa. "What do you mean? If it isn't just that I'm a girl,  
what is it?"  
  
"I... I'm not sure how to explain it," he answered. "It's just... well, I  
wouldn't be really... comfortable... sleeping next to you."  
  
"Well, gee, thanks," she growled, hurt.  
  
"I didn't mean it like that!" he exclaimed.  
  
Noa looked at him closely. "Then how DID you mean it?"  
  
He lay back down, closing his eyes so that he wouldn't see her face when he  
said what he was about to say. "I couldn't ALLOW myself to get comfortable  
because I would be afraid of getting... too comfortable... with you."  
  
The implications of that set in, and for the first time Noa wondered about  
their relationship. She thought about the times they'd spent together, the  
times they'd gone into battle together, and the emotional memories they'd  
shared. "Asuma?" she said. Her voice was cracking slightly.  
  
"Yeah, Noa?"  
  
Noa paused. She wasn't sure she wanted to ask this, but once she'd made  
her decision she figured she might as well not back out of it. "Do you  
want to share the futon?"  
  
Asuma sat up like he'd been shot out of a cannon. "Are you sure you want  
to take the risk?" he asked.  
  
"Asuma," she said sternly. "I don't care about the risk. You've told me  
more about yourself than I've seen you tell anyone else- I'VE told you more  
about MYSELF than I've ever told anyone else. When the Griffin hurt you  
and I didn't know if you were alive or dead, I was more terrified than I'd  
been at any other point in my life. When we had our first real fight-  
about you making up with your father- I was afraid we'd never make up, and  
didn't know how I'd handle that. Whenever my life was on the line, I cried  
your name, desperately hoping I could see you just one more time. Asuma...  
like you always say, backup and forward should have one heart and one mind.  
I think we've got the one heart already. I let you be my mind sometimes.   
If we DID... get too comfortable, all that would happen to us would be that  
we'd add one more thing we share- one body."  
  
Asuma couldn't move, or speak, or even think- was Noa offering what he  
thought she was offering?  
  
"Noa, do you know what you're saying?"  
  
Noa nodded furiously. "Yes. Now get over here!"  
  
"Yes, ma'am!" he said, jumping out of the futon. "Wait... don't I usually  
boss YOU around?"  
  
Noa chuckled. "Tell you what- you can boss me around in the morning.   
Tonight, it's my turn."  
  
*****  
  
"Ah, Inspector Matsui," Gotoh said. "Find any more... irregularities... in  
our weapons log?"  
  
"No," he said gruffly. "I'm done with that portion of this investigation.   
I have a pretty good idea what weapon was used- we just need to find it and  
perform a ballistics test on it. In the meantime, however, there are a  
couple other angles to work on. Takeo's taking one- she phoned me to let  
me know she's discovered a confidential inside source on the conspiracy,  
and she'll be working with him independently for a while. In the meantime,  
however, she gave me the results of another file search I'd engaged her on.  
Um, would you and Captain Shinobu please help me with this phase of the  
investigation? There's someone I need to question, and I'd like to have  
you two along with me when I conduct this particular interrogation."  
  
Gotoh looked over at Shinobu, who shrugged and nodded, before getting up to  
walk over to him. "Certainly- though may I ask why?"  
  
Matsui coughed. "Well, I'm going to be questioning another police  
officer."  
  
"Not one of MY men!" Shinobu cried, outraged.  
  
"No, not one of your men," he said reassuringly. Glancing casually at  
Gotoh, he added, "Not one of yours, either. Nor Sakaki's."  
  
Shinobu and Gotoh looked at each other. "Well... if it's not our men,"  
Gotoh asked, almost to himself. "Who does that leave?"  
  
"Are you taking us off base? If so, I'm afraid I won't be able to go..."  
Shinobu said.  
  
"No, we should find the person who I'm intending to talk to in this  
facility right now...."  
  
*****  
  
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	3. Part 3

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Part 3:  
Noa and Asuma, half-dressed after their difficult night's sleep, were  
trying to relax in the main room of their hideout. Things were slightly  
tense between them after what they said and did the previous night, and  
they were uncertain how to relate to each other after the unexpected  
change. Trying to avoid the issue, they'd seperated to do very different  
things. It had turned into a very lazy afternoon.  
  
Noa was furiously her Patlabor game, trying to beat her top score. She'd  
seen a steady improvement in her performance that day, but part of that  
might have been that there wasn't much else to do in the cabin. Briefly,  
she glanced over at Asuma, blushing slightly. No, not much else to do at  
all.  
  
Asuma was lying on his elbows, reading one of the manga they'd been  
supplied. It wasn't something he'd normally be interested in (it was a  
girls manga), but considering the limited options it was probably the best  
way of preventing boredom. In an attempt to breech the wall of nerves  
they'd erected between them, he first tried helping Noa out on her video  
game. That hadn't worked out, however, and he found that the screen on the  
Headgear Mini-Game device wasn't big enough to allow two people to view  
what was going on at once- at least not without getting too close to each  
other for comfort. He also considered suggesting they watch some  
television, but he doubted anything of interest was on the local TVs...  
though he should probably consider watching the news later that night, just  
to make sure there weren't any major updates on their case.  
  
"Say, Asuma?" Noa said, not looking up from her game.  
  
"Yeah, Noa?"  
  
"Are there any OTHER girls you'd have hesitated before sleeping with?"  
  
Asuma blinked, and looked over at her. She was doing her best to keep her  
smile from showing- obviously, she was teasing him.  
  
"Not in this building," he said.  
  
"And outside of it?"  
  
"I don't know... I mean, there definitely are some. Most of those others,  
however, are for completely different reasons."  
  
Noa raised an eyebrow. "MOST of those others? What about those 'others'  
who aren't covered in that 'most?'"  
  
"Well, let's see. They'd have to be someone who I liked a lot... and who I  
would be afraid of losing what I had with them... and who I trusted with  
pretty much anything... hmm, not sure there really ARE any others who fit  
all of those requirements."  
  
"Good," Noa said smugly.  
  
"Now, what you SHOULD have asked is if there are any other girls who I  
WOULDN'T have hesitated before sleeping with," he added, smiling up at her  
maliciously.  
  
"What! Why you-"  
  
"Shh!" Asuma said suddenly, leaping to his feet. "I think I hear  
something."  
  
Noa started listening along with him. She just barely made out what it was  
he was listening to. "Is that a... helicopter?"  
  
Asuma nodded. "Yeah... and it's getting closer. Do helicopters come  
around here often?"  
  
"First time I've ever heard one in these mountains, as far as I can  
recall."  
  
"Damn- that's almost certainly the police," he growled as the helicopter  
got close enough for them to know that it was landing near them. "Wong  
must have sold us out- quick, grab anything you can, and let's get out of  
here!"  
  
Noa glanced out the window. "Asuma, wait!"  
  
"What is it?" he said, stopping with his shirt half-buttoned- he'd been  
wearing just the T-shirt up until that point.  
  
"That isn't a police helicopter. In fact, I think I see Utsumi waving to  
us from its window," Noa explained, using the pseudonym Richard Wong had  
first given them when they had first met.  
  
"Utsumi?" Asuma said, surprised. He resumed buttoning his shirt, but with  
less urgency. "Why is he here this soon? It's only been a day since we  
last saw him!"  
  
The helicopter finished its landing procedures, and Wong left it  
accompanied by someone else. Noa, still looking out the window, gasped.   
"Asuma, Takeo's with him!"  
  
He paused. "Well... it's too late to try and run now that they've landed.   
Let's just hope she's on our side. Utsumi said he would try and help our  
investigation- maybe he's bringing her in to do it, and she has to ask us  
some questions or something."  
  
Noa turned to face him, and as she watched him fix his shirt remembered her  
own partially-clothed state. Quickly, she buttoned up her own blouse  
(which she'd been wearing unfastened), and turned to wait for the  
unexpected guests.  
  
There was a knock at the door. Noa glanced at Asuma, who nodded, and  
opened it.  
  
"Ah, hello, Noa, Asuma," Wong greeted. "I brought along a guest who simply  
insisted that she see you to make certain you two were safe."  
  
"Hello, Asuma." Takeo said, stepping in alongside him, smiling. For the  
first time, Asuma noticed an odd similarity between her smile and Wong's-  
perhaps it wasn't as wide, but it appeared almost identical in shape. It  
was almost as if she WOULD be smiling just like him if her lips would let  
her.  
  
"Uh, hi, Takeo," Noa said nervously.  
  
"Noa," Takeo acknowledged. "Have you been taking good care of Asuma?" she  
asked in hidden amusement, noticing that the younger woman's shirt wasn't  
buttoned up quite right.  
  
Noa blushed. "Well... we have had a few problems. We need a few supplies  
to remain... comfortable."  
  
"Oh?" Wong said. "Did we not bring enough for you in our care packages?"  
  
Asuma nodded. "We need some changes of clothing- we've been stuck in our  
uniforms ever since we escaped, and there's only so much bathing will do.   
We could also use something to help clean those clothes."  
  
Wong nodded. "Oh- oh! I'm sorry I did not think of that when I showed up  
yesterday! Give me your clothing measurements before I leave, and I'll get  
you a complete wardrobe by nightfall. Is there anything else?"  
  
Noa raised her hand. "Yes! We could use a larger futon and- ulp!" She  
was cut off as Asuma's hand went over her mouth.  
  
"A larger futon?" Takeo repeated, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Uh, yeah," Asuma said, still holding his hand over Noa's mouth despite the  
fact she was now biting him. "See, she's had to sleep on this really small  
kids' futon she used to sleep on when she was, like, five or so, and was  
hoping to find something a bit more comfortable." Once Noa realized he was  
only trying to keep their secret a bit longer, she stopped biting him, and  
he was able to move his hand away.  
  
Wong laughed. "Of course! I'll send her a nice queen-sized futon along  
with the clothing. Is that all?"  
  
Asuma was a little surprised at the size of the offered futon, but decided  
to ignore that little puzzle. "Well, the whole place is a bit shabby, and  
could use a few things to fix it up. We don't need that stuff right away,  
but if we have to stay much longer we could use some materials and tools to  
rebuild the damaged portions of this house."  
  
"Oh, I doubt you'll have to stay in it much longer," Wong said. "A few  
days, a week at most."  
  
That surprised all three of them. "You really think we'll be done with  
this investigation so quickly?" Takeo said.  
  
Wong looked at her sadly. "I'm afraid so... and then our truce will run  
out, and I'll have to start hiding from you again. A shame, really, but I  
promised to do my best to keep my end of the bargain."  
  
"How do you figure we'll be done in a week?" she asked.  
  
"Ah, well, see- our little research project with those phone records worked  
two ways. You were able to discover what people in the police were  
actively conspiring to force the investigation to turn on Asuma, and I was  
able to find out who it was in Shaft who'd ordered the frame-up. I talked  
to my friends in the departments those people head, and they'll try and  
find for us the murder weapon your Inspector Matsui identified. Once they  
do that, we'll go there, extract it, and use it to prove Asuma's innocence.  
In the meantime, your Inspector Matsui and Captain Gotoh, if I'm any judge  
of their competence, will be able to break down the police conspiracy in a  
very brief time." He paused. "Which really doesn't leave much  
investigation for us, does it? Ah, well- do you want to join me on the ski  
slopes before we leave?"  
  
"Richard Wong," Takeo warned. "We're only here on business. If you're  
attempting to butter me up into liking you again, you're wasting your  
time."  
  
Wong sighed theatrically. "Oh, well."  
  
"I would like a chance to talk to Noa and Asuma privately before we depart,  
however. Would you mind leaving us alone for a little bit?"  
  
Wong raised his hands in surrender. "Leaving you alone as ordered. Have  
fun." Winking at her, he left the house and made his way out to the  
helicopter.  
  
Takeo closed her eyes and shook her head, that smile that reminded Asuma of  
Wong still on her face. "You two are in a lot of trouble, you know," she  
said. "I don't think you realize what it means to ally yourselves with  
Richard Wong."  
  
"Maybe not," Asuma said. "Though I do know enough not to trust anything he  
says."  
  
"Well, that's a start," she said with chagrin. "But there's a lot more to  
Richard then just an untrustworthy guy. He's not going to hurt you, or let  
you get hurt- not physically, at any rate- if you're a friend of his. And  
when he told me he thought of you two as friends, I believed him."  
  
"Are you sure about that?" Noa asked. "It sure didn't seem that way when I  
had to fight the Griffin!"  
  
Takeo nodded. "Hurting and humiliating are two very different things in  
his book." She blushed slightly. "I happen to know that he finds  
humiliating those he cares about something of a... um... turn on," At  
Asuma and Noa's wide-eyed stares at her, Takeo quickly changed the topic.   
"Realize, the Griffin got into a lot of fights- many of them very intense  
battles- but it was controlled well enough that it wouldn't kill anyone.   
It hurt Asuma, yes, but that was unintentional and unexpected. If it had  
been going to kill you, it could have, Noa- and probably long before the  
battle turned in your favor, too."  
  
Cold chills ran down both her and Asuma's spines- Noa, at the thought of  
how close she was to death in those fights, and Asuma, at the thought of  
how close he could have come to losing Noa.  
  
"So you're saying we can trust certain things about him?" Asuma asked.  
  
"No- don't even trust what you know about Richard, because he'll use his  
own patterns against you. Trust me- I've seen him work."  
  
"Why is he really doing this for us?" Noa asked.  
  
Takeo laughed. "Who knows? Richard's quite eccentric- he told me those  
speakers that Bud was using on the Griffin to yell at you were put there so  
that he could get the labor to play selections from Wagner's operas as it  
moved. He lives by his own rules, and no-one understands Richard Wong but  
Richard Wong himself."  
  
"So how did you two come to join forces in this case?" Asuma asked. "Did  
he approach you, or what?"  
  
"No... we were following the same lead, and just happened to meet. I was  
about to arrest him until I found out he could contact you two, and we made  
an agreement where I would arrest him if he kept you two safe. He's  
actually been quite helpful- which isn't really a surprise; he usually is,  
when he wants to be."  
  
"So... what should we do?" Asuma asked.  
  
"You?" Takeo said. "You're already doing it- stay hidden. Just relax,  
have some fun, and think of this as a vacation... but stay indoors. Well,  
maybe there are some things you could do- I suspect it would be safe to go  
skiing, if you wear some sort of disguise- but just use caution and don't  
let anyone see your faces."  
  
"Yeah, that's pretty much what Utsumi told us," Asuma said.  
  
"I just wish there was more to do around here," Noa sighed.  
  
Takeo's smile grew a little. "Oh, I'm pretty sure you'll think of  
something. Look, I'd better be going- I'll come by to check on you guys in  
a week if we haven't cleared you by then."  
  
"Bye, Takeo," Noa said.  
  
"Hold on," Asuma said. "Give Noa and I a chance to write down the things  
Wong needs to get us our new clothes."  
  
Takeo nodded, pulling out a pen and a small note pad from her vest and  
handing them over to Asuma. "Write down anything you want to tell him in  
this."  
  
Asuma and Noa took their turns with the notepad before handing it back to  
Takeo. "We'll see you in a week, Takeo," Asuma said.  
  
Takeo smiled as she turned to go. "By the way... if you hadn't tried to  
hide it, you'd have gotten a bigger futon."  
  
"Huh?" Asuma and Noa chorused.  
  
"Well, it's pretty obvious you two are sleeping together. If you'd just  
come out and admitted it, he'd have given you a king-sized futon to share  
instead of the smaller queen-sized one. Honesty has its rewards with  
Richard."  
  
As she continued out the door, Noa and Asuma both facefaulted.  
  
*****  
  
Inspector Matsui stopped leading when they reached the door labeled  
'Section Chief Fukushima.' His two companions halted when he paused and  
pulled out a cigarette. Gotoh looked at the office, looked at Matsui, and  
nodded slightly. Shinobu, on the other hand, just looked confused.  
  
"Are we going in to get the section chief's help, too, or are we just  
stopped so you can smoke a cigarette?" she asked, somewhat harshly as she  
wasn't very comfortable being left in the dark.  
  
"His 'help?'" Matsui echoed. "Hmm... I guess that's a good way to put it.   
The answer to your question is we're stopped here so that I can smoke a  
cigarette BEFORE we go in to get some 'help' from your section chief. I'm  
going to need it to calm my nerves- sometimes it seems Mr. Fukushima does  
his utmost to make me feel uncomfortable, and I'm gonna need this smoke to  
get through this."  
  
Shinobu looked at him, still confused. She was used to reading between the  
lines with Gotoh- well, sometimes she was- but she didn't understand  
whatever it was Matsui was implying. Or at least didn't want to  
understand. "Well, should I go in and get him, or are we all going to have  
to wait for you to finish this cigarette break?"  
  
"We're going to have to wait, Shinobu. See, Fukushima isn't going to help  
perform the questioning- he's going to be the person we're going to  
question."  
  
Finally, it all clicked in Shinobu's head. "You don't mean HE'S the one  
who sold us out to Shaft? But he's our section chief! Surely he  
wouldn't..." her voice trailed off into memories. Memories of the time  
she'd confronted the same section chief about the possibility that the  
SRX-70 that had been donated to her labor unit was being used by Shaft to  
develop military labors. Blood money, she had called it. Fukushima's  
response, for some reason, rang in her head that moment.  
  
"Labor units run on money, not on pride," he had said.  
  
"In addition to a number of phone calls between him and several suspected  
Shaft administrators," Matsui explained, "I accessed his bank accounts and  
discovered regular deposits to him by dummy corporations set up by Shaft  
Multinational. While Shaft is not the only group I started out suspecting,  
I've since got a few 'tips' to make me believe that Shaft WAS the  
organization which framed Asuma and murdered his father, and while  
Fukushima isn't the only person who appears to be receiving bribes from  
Shaft, we've got other leads- namely your apparently altered report on the  
missing weapon- that seem to connect to him."  
  
The door behind the three of them opened. "And, in addition to all that,  
you're able to discuss all of this in front of my office without giving me  
a chance to defend myself," Fukushima growled. "Come in- I've heard what  
you all had to say. Let's talk."  
  
The three officers, looking a little like schoolchildren caught cheating on  
a test, followed him in and closed the door behind them. Fukushima sat  
down at his desk, gestured for them to take a seat, and then folded his  
hands together.  
  
Matsui, sitting down, cleared his throat. "Um, sir, I still have a few  
questions-"  
  
"Stow it!" the section chief barked. "You can ask your questions later. I  
get a chance to explain my side of things, now." He paused, waiting for  
their reactions.  
  
Matsui seemed unhappy, but nodded and leaned back in his chair to hear what  
Fukushima had to say for himself. Shinobu felt vaguely shell-shocked-  
while intellectually she'd been convinced that there had been an internal  
conspiracy to frame Gotoh's protege Asuma, she hadn't quite connected that  
to corruption in the police- especially not to someone who she worked with.  
She might not have liked Fukushima, but she was very by the book, and had  
always felt that Fukushima was a by-the-book man, as well. His apparent  
betrayal was something she'd never have expected in a million years, even  
if the evidence for his had hit her on the head.  
  
Gotoh, however, was as unflappable as ever. "Go ahead, chief. We all  
appear to be wondering why you would frame one of your own for the murder  
of his father." Unflappable, but still not very happy. Shinobu, who had  
never heard him address someone so darkly- least of all someone as powerful  
as the section chief- shuddered slightly at his tone.  
  
"I did nothing of the kind!" Fukushima denied violently. "I will admit to  
taking money from Shaft Multinational, but I wasn't doing anything like  
that for it." He paused, sitting back defiantly. "I merely was something  
of a paid consultant and lobbyist for them. I was asked to support their  
labor designs over that of the Shinohara Heavy Industry designs back when  
the two were competing for the Patlabor contracts, and received a modest  
fee for my support. Since then, I've been supplying them with some  
information when they've requested it- medical reports on the effects of  
high-stress assignments on pilots and that sort of thing. However, I've  
never done ANYTHING which I felt has hurt or hindered my police work in any  
fashion- especially nothing which might have lead to one of my officers  
being framed for murder." Disdainfully, he added, "In fact, I think it  
could have helped us out significantly, if we hadn't been paranoid about  
their motivations. They were willing to just GIVE us an SRX-70 was in part  
due to my aid... and I STILL feel it was a mistake to get rid of it."  
  
Shinobu was starting to get angry now. The SRX-70 incident had been a  
trying time for her, and she still got mad thinking about how she'd almost  
been duped into illegal weapons testing. Fukushima had refused to see her  
problem with it at the time, and now he was only compounding his errors in  
her mind. Still, she was able to keep her cool, and not do anything too  
violent. She did break a pencil she was holding between her fingers,  
however.  
  
Gotoh noted Shinobu's waning restraint, and decided to ask a question  
before she snapped. "Hmm... you say you've done nothing to lead to one of  
your officers being framed for murder. I don't doubt that you believe that  
when you say it, but can you be certain they never used your work in ways  
you weren't aware of? I wonder... you didn't happen to alter a report at  
their request, did you? A missing weapons report?"  
  
Fukushima blinked. "Now that you mention it, they did ask that I change  
one report from listing a missing revolver to say that it fell into the  
Tokyo Bay instead of listing it as having been misplaced following the  
action. I happen to know for a fact that the weapon in question was  
non-functioning, however."  
  
"Non-functioning?" Shinobu said. "How?"  
  
"It was defective, according to my source at Shaft. They were merely  
studying the trigger system, but the barrel had been damaged."  
  
That got Shinobu out of her chair. "And you believed him?" she growled,  
slamming her fists down on top of Fukushima's desk. "Shaft makes weapons  
systems for the armies of fifty different countries. The police revolvers  
used by Ingram and Peacemaker labors are pretty pathetic compared to Shaft  
equipment- they had no need to study the trigger systems of those weapons!"  
  
"Shinobu," Gotoh said, trying to calm her down slightly.  
  
"How much did they pay you to believe them, 'Chief?' The ONLY possible  
reason they would have for wanting to obtain one of those revolvers would  
be to use a labor-designed weapon that WOULDN'T be traced back to them,"  
she said. "So, 'Chief,' guess what? You DID participate in framing one of  
our officers- and it's your fault he's on the run right now!"  
  
"Shinobu!" Gotoh snapped, trying to get her attention.  
  
She relaxed slightly, turning to Gotoh. "Sorry... but to think I used to  
actually treat this man with some respect..."  
  
*****  
  
Noa went through the crate of stuff that had been delivered for her.   
Fortunately, she and Asuma hadn't had to unload the futon themselves, but  
the boxes of clothing Wong had sent were much larger than they were  
expecting. Noa pulled out some laundry detergent (complete with  
instructions for how to hand-wash things, as if she needed them), four nice  
blouses, three pairs of slacks, a skirt, and some underwear. Then she  
started finding some items she hadn't thought to ask for- an iron, some  
soap and shampoo for the bath, some toothpaste, some mouthwash, some maxi  
pads (not her usual brand, but she couldn't really complain) and other  
toiletries.  
  
There was one thing that she couldn't quite identify, however, until she  
took it out of the box and carefully studied the English writing.  
  
"Eep!" Noa blushed, dropping the box once she realized what it was.  
  
Asuma, unpacking his own box, looked over at her. "What?"  
  
Quickly, she grabbed the box and hid it behind her. "Uh... nothing."  
  
Asuma smiled teasingly. "Are you hiding something from me?"  
  
"No!" Noa cried out, her voice trembling with embarrassment. Realizing she  
just shouted, she giggled nervously.  
  
Asuma's smile grew, and he crawled over to her on his hands on knees so he  
could confront her face to face. "Come on- what is it?"  
  
"Nothing! Really!" Noa insisted desperately. He was trying to be playful-  
she was just trying to keep him from finding the box and getting the wrong  
idea. Unfortunately, the more she fought the more he thought she was  
playing, too.  
  
"Then what's that you're holding behind your back?" he asked.  
  
"I'm not holding anything behind my back- see!" Noa said, showing both her  
hands.  
  
Asuma feinted a look of surrender, then with a battle cry of "Ha!" ducked  
around underneath her hand to grab the box from behind her.  
  
"Asuma!" Noa cried, outraged.  
  
Asuma gave her a toothy grin of victory, but then noticed that she wasn't  
just disappointed or embarrassed like he'd expected, but actually looked a  
little scared. His smile dropped, but he still took a good look at the  
item Noa had been trying to hide.  
  
"It's a box of condoms," he said simply. "An assortment- ribbed, flex-tip,  
and... flavored?"  
  
Noa nodded. "Uh huh," she mumbled.  
  
"What's the problem, though? I mean, it's probably just a gag gift- you  
wouldn't believe some of the silly things they put in my box. But you're  
acting scared of this. Why would a box of condoms scare you?"  
  
Noa blushed. "Um... I'm not sure how to explain it. Last night was  
wonderful- we found out what we meant to each other, we snuggled up under  
the sheets- even if part of why we held on so tightly was to fit on the  
futon, we kissed each other, and we... um... did a few other things." Her  
blush grew until she looked as red as her hair, but she continued. "But we  
never got far enough to have to use anything like that. I was a bit glad,  
actually... I'm not ready for that kind of step. This morning, when I was  
thinking about last night, I was wondering what I'd have done if you HAD  
tried to start something like that... something I wasn't ready for. I  
figured one excuse I could use was that we didn't have anything like this  
to protect me from... well, getting pregnant." She sighed. "Now that  
we've got them, though, I... I can't think of any reasons other than 'I'm  
not ready yet.'"  
  
Asuma smiled comfortingly. "And what makes you think you NEED any other  
reasons?" She blinked at his response. "Look, Noa, I'm not going to do  
anything to hurt you, nor will I do anything to rush you. Like you said- I  
can boss you around in the daytime. At night, however, it's your turn."  
  
Noa smiled back weakly. "And what if you try something during the day?"  
  
"Then you automatically take over, okay?"  
  
"Okay," she said. "Say... you said you got a bunch of gag gifts. Like  
what?"  
  
"Um..."  
  
"Come on! Let me see!"  
  
"Ack!"  
  
*****  
  
Takeo sat down next to Wong, removing her skis after a long, hard day of  
going downhill. She sighed briefly as she recalled her vehement objection  
to skiing with him. Of course, he was easily able to just ignore all of  
her arguments and rent skis for the two of them, anyway. Then, of course,  
she let herself be convinced to ski with him, after all: "It'll help  
maintain our cover," he'd explained, "We don't want people wondering why a  
helicopter flied up here and then left without someone from it visiting the  
famous ski slopes... unless you WANT people to come and investigate around  
the area of Noa and Asuma's cabin."  
  
Takeo bought into that hook, line, and sinker. Then, of course, he spent  
the entire day they were skiing hitting on her. The only pause had been  
when they took a short break to fill up Noa and Asuma's new care packages.   
His one comment about the extra things she'd added (which had included  
feminine hygiene products for Noa (just in case), some books she knew Asuma  
liked, and a couple other odds and ends) had been on the box of condoms-  
"I'm surprised you're carrying a thing like that around," he'd said,  
smiling like always. "You wouldn't happen to have been thinking about  
using them, would you?"  
  
The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she got. Here he was,  
still hitting on her like the events of the past year just hadn't happened.  
It seemed like he was hoping a few jokes would ease all of the betrayal  
she'd felt at his running out on her, and that that would be the end of it.  
Things would be back to normal, and forget all the little details like how  
she'd be forced to arrest him on sight again when this was all over.  
  
Well, he was wrong, and she was about to let him know and let him know just  
how wrong he was, dammit! Just as soon as she figured out how to tell him,  
that was.  
  
Furiously, she grabbed her skis and slammed them onto the return counter  
for the ski rental place, almost breaking them in the process. With that,  
she stormed out of the room, trying to project her displeasure with the  
world to anyone who might be paying attention.  
  
One of the few people who WAS actually paying attention happened to be her  
intended target: Richard Wong. Noticing the cloud over her face as she was  
leaving, he quickly jumped up and followed her (he'd actually finished with  
his own skis several minutes beforehand, he was just waiting for Takeo to  
catch up). As it turned out, however, his rushing after her caused  
EVERYONE to pay attention. The immediate rumors that started spreading  
noted that the nice young couple which had arrived by helicopter that  
afternoon was having a rather nasty fight. Some of the other men in the  
ski lodge were hoping the couple would break up so that THEY could have a  
shot at the cute ski-bunny who'd arrived so suddenly in the middle of the  
day, but who had apparently been attached to the weird foreigner with the  
odd smile. At any rate, Takeo and Wong were the talk of the whole place in  
a matter of minutes.  
  
Wong finally caught up with her in the lobby of the lodge, looking a little  
flustered. "Takeo, what's wrong? Why are you so upset?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing! I'm not upset," Takeo snapped. "Let's just get out of here,  
okay?"  
  
Wong scratched his head, confused. "Get out of here? Where are we going?"  
  
"Home, of course! Where do you think?"  
  
Wong still looked confused. "How do you expect us to get home? It'll get  
dark before we get the helicopter warmed up, and it isn't equipped for  
night flying."  
  
Takeo clenched her fists, closing her eyes. "You mean... we have to stay  
here overnight?"  
  
"Well, we could always head back to Noa's cabin, if you'd prefer, but I  
suspect your friends wouldn't like that," he answered, his smile returning  
for the first time in this conversation, albeit hesitantly.  
  
"And, let me guess, you only rented one room."  
  
"Well, I don't really budget more than one room for business trips to ski  
lodges," he replied.  
  
Takeo sighed, defeated. "Fine. Where's this room of ours?"  
  
"Right this way!" Wong gestured with a flourish, and started leading her  
through the hallways of the lodge. They stopped at a door, and he used a  
card to open the electro-magnetic lock. "Allow me to escort the lady  
across the- eh?"  
  
Takeo totally ignored his gallant gesture, just walking right past him into  
the room. She grabbed a sheet and a pillow off of the one bed and headed  
over to a sofa. "I'll spend the night here, thank you," she said, lying  
down.  
  
Wong followed her in after a second, letting the door close behind him.   
"Um... if you want, but it might get kind of cramped."  
  
"I'll be fine, as long as you stay in the bed where you belong," she  
grumbled, turning so that she wouldn't be facing him as she slept.  
  
Wong sat on the bed, his smile falling again. "Did I do something wrong?"  
he asked. "Why are you acting so... hostile?"  
  
Takeo sat up, spinning around to face him. "Look, did you really think it  
would be all that easy?"  
  
Wong blinked. "I'm afraid I just don't understand. What are you talking  
about?"  
  
"Listen," Takeo said, taking a deep breath. "We may have been lovers back  
in Hong Kong, but that was over the day you never came back. It was even  
more over when I found out you didn't even quit Shaft like you said you  
would. If you think that, just because we have a temporary truce, I'm  
going to go back to the way things were just because you con me into  
spending the night in the same room as you... well, let's just say you're  
SADLY mistaken."  
  
Wong blinked. "Um... Takeo, check the closet."  
  
Takeo blinked. "Why?"  
  
Wong sighed, and walked over to the closet. Opening it up, he gestured to  
the fold-away bed that had been placed there. "I was planning to sleep on  
this, but if you insist on using the sofa, I'll be happy to take the  
regular bed..."  
  
Takeo blushed slightly. "You mean... you weren't just assuming we'd be  
sharing the same bed?"  
  
"Well, I was hoping you wouldn't mind if we did," Wong admitted, his smile  
once again returning. "But I was prepared either way."  
  
Takeo's blush disappeared, but she still looked somewhat embarrassed. "I'm  
sorry... it's just that, with the way you tricked me into this ski trip and  
that crack you made about the condoms I got for Noa and Asuma... and then  
there was just one hotel room, and one bed, and..."  
  
"Like I said, I was hoping you wouldn't mind," Wong said. "And I'm not  
sorry for what I said and did- the ski trip was unavoidable, and that joke  
was just too good not to make- but I'm certainly not going to ask you to  
resume our former intimacies if you don't want to." He paused. "I am not  
the most admirable of men- I do many crimes against the world merely for my  
own gain, and I have no qualms about hurting those I care about if they are  
in my way- but there are certain lines I will never cross. I will not  
allow your co-worker to be successfully framed for the murder of his father  
because my employers crossed one of those lines. I will not force you into  
anything you are not ready for, because THAT would cross one of those  
lines."  
  
"You most certainly AREN'T the most admirable of men!" Takeo snapped. "You  
lie, you steal, you cheat, you betray... but you're still better than I've  
been treating you." She took the blanket and the pillow, and walked over  
to the closet where he was standing. "Tell you what: You're paying for  
this room and all, so I should be the one to get the rollaway bed. You  
take the regular bed, and consider that my apology, okay?"  
  
He paused, considering her offer. "Okay, deal," he said, heading over to  
the bed. His expression took on some feigned disappointment, however. "I  
guess hoping that you'd sleep with me in apology was too much, wasn't it?"  
  
Takeo, who knew him well enough to know he'd been planning some sort of  
zinger like that, merely swatted him with her pillow hard instead of  
slapping him like she otherwise might have. "Yes, it was. Now get to  
sleep- and if you even THINK about dreaming about me, I'm going to toss you  
off the helicopter tomorrow... while we're in the air."  
  
As he started to make his way under the covers of his bed, he blinked.   
"Wait a minute- it's my helicopter. How are YOU going to get ME thrown  
off?"  
  
Takeo smiled evilly- oddly reflecting Wong's own expression. "Oh, I'm  
pretty sure I could think of a few ways. I've had to toss the occasional  
man out of a window in my time. And if I can toss Ohta out the window when  
I'm drunk, I'm pretty sure I can toss you out of a helicopter door when I'm  
sober. Or maybe even THROUGH the helicopter door."  
  
Wong hesitated. That sounded... painful. And serious. "Um, yes, ma'am."  
  
*****  
  
Matsui was not really surprised to find Gotoh sleeping in the Captains'  
Office when he returned to the reclaimed land the day after the questioning  
of Section Chief Fukushima. He WAS, however, a little surprised to find  
that Shinobu was in the same office and NOT complaining about the laziness  
of the other captain.  
  
"You're letting him sleep on duty?" he said curiously.  
  
Shinobu giggled slightly. "Actually, he's off duty. I've never known him  
to go home when I'm here- instead, he just sleeps in the office and fixes  
himself coffee and soups using his teapot and a sterno heater."  
  
Matsui blinked. "Odd... oh, well. It's a good thing for me that he IS  
here, at any rate... I need to... discuss... a few things with some other  
higher-ranking officials, and need him to help me out."  
  
Shinobu frowned. "Would I be able to help?"  
  
"Well... not unless you're willing to leave the base while on duty."  
  
Shinobu nodded fiercely. "This whole mess didn't seem all that real to me  
until I heard that stuck up Fukushima's admission. Yesterday, I wouldn't  
have been willing. Today, though... just tell me what we need to do, and  
I'll call Gomioka in here to take over while I go do it."  
  
"If you're going to do that," Gotoh, who looked like he was still sleeping,  
said, "You'd better let me write a few extra orders. I'm going too, after  
all, and so Gomioka's going to be in charge of both units for a while."  
  
"Your awake?" Matsui said, startled.  
  
Gotoh finally opened his eyes and sat up. "Been awake the moment the door  
opened. I'm a pretty light sleeper."  
  
"Well, then... write out your orders and let's go, shall we?" Matsui  
suggested, trying to recover his wits.  
  
*****  
  
Takeo sat in the ski lodge's cafe, munching on some pastry or another she  
had bought for breakfast as she skimmed over the newspaper headlines. The  
night had gone rather quietly after she'd made that threat to toss Wong out  
of the moving helicopter, and now there were plans to head back after  
lunch... she wanted to go after breakfast, but the departure time was  
totally out of her hands.  
  
The sound of a chair scraping against the floor caused her to look up from  
the paper, and was somewhat surprised to see a total stranger taking a seat  
next to her. He was a rather handsome man, wearing a slightly seductive  
smile to go with his ski outfit. He'd taken what seemed to be his  
breakfast with him when he came to sit next to her, and seemed to be  
setting himself up to hold some sort of conversation while eating.  
  
"Hi," he said.  
  
"Hello," Takeo said hesitantly, turning her attention back to the newspaper  
in an attempt to show her disinterest in holding a conversation.  
  
"I saw that fight you had with your boyfriend, yesterday," the man said.  
  
"My boyfriend? I don't have a boyfriend!" Takeo said, startled.  
  
"Oh? Then who is that guy who's helicopter you flew in on?"  
  
Takeo started to answer, then realize she didn't actually have one. Saying  
he was a co-worker wouldn't sound true- not for someone who took her in on  
a helicopter. "My ex-boyfriend, sort of. But that was a long time ago-  
this is the first time we've seen each other in... well, almost half a  
year. And the last time we saw each other didn't end very well." Well,  
Takeo felt it didn't go well- being dumped into the laundry basket  
certainly wasn't her idea of a good ending.  
  
The stranger's smile grew to show his gleaming teeth. "Indeed? Then  
you're unattached... good." He made direct eye contact with her. "Perhaps  
you'd like to go skiing with me, today? Especially as you and your...  
companion... seem to have had a falling out."  
  
Takeo, who was starting to get a bit annoyed at having her breakfast  
interrupted, shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't have time," she said as  
politely as she could. "I'm supposed to leave at noon for a business  
meeting."  
  
The man's smile slipped a little, but he didn't give up. "Indeed? Where  
do you work?"  
  
Takeo got a smile of her own. She knew a line that chased away most of the  
more annoying men she knew. "I'm a cop for the Special Vehicles, Second  
Section... in Tokyo."  
  
"Really!?" the man said brightly, his smile regaining the lost ground and  
then some. "I live out by that Chinese restaurant you guys always order  
from. What a happy coincidence, don't you think?"  
  
Takeo's smile held, but the teeth that were showing started grinding. This  
guy was relentless... and his persistence was starting to get annoying.   
When Wong- the only other guy who she'd ever noticed hitting on her- first  
approached her, he always knew when he was wanted and when he wasn't. This  
guy just didn't seem to care. Was there any way of getting rid of him?  
  
"Um... really? Well... that's good to know... um," she hesitated.  
  
"Excuse me," Richard Wong said, approaching the table. "It appears that  
we'll be ready to go sooner than expected- seems the helicopter can leave  
right now, if you want.  
  
Takeo nodded. Turning to the man who was annoying her, she quickly said,  
"Well, I'm sorry, but it seems I'm going to have to cut this conversation  
short. Bye!"  
  
Without giving the man a chance to respond, she rushed to stand up and  
nearly dragged Wong out of the room with her.  
  
"I take it my intervention was rather timely, eh?" Wong commented.  
  
"Let's just say I'd prefer your company to his. Let's get packed and get  
ready to go, okay?"  
  
*****  
  
Asuma sighed, putting down the manga he'd been reading and standing up.   
"I'm bored. Wanna go wax Alphonse or something, Noa?" he asked,  
stretching.  
  
Noa glanced over at him anxiously. There was something he'd been avoiding  
for some time, and she was starting to wonder about it- what was he feeling  
about his father's death?  
  
It almost seemed as if he was totally unaffected by the fact that his  
father was murdered. Well, that wasn't true- she DID recall him looking  
kind of saddened back during the boat ride to Hokkaido when he recalled the  
memories of sailing with his father, but outside of that there'd been  
nothing from him. And that hadn't lasted long- just until he sighted  
Wong's ship.  
  
Noa had initially put his avoidance of the topic to all the stuff that had  
been going on- their need to escape, Wong's sudden appearance, and their...  
recently discovered closeness. But they weren't on the run at the moment,  
Wong wasn't likely to show up any time soon, and they weren't really doing  
anything that would make their 'closeness' get in the way. She had thought  
that once things settled down, he'd be able to think- and talk- about his  
father's death. But he hadn't said one word about it since they'd arrived  
at the cabin, and he seemed to be going on as if everything was normal...  
well, as normal as being stuck in a cabin in the middle of nowhere could  
be.  
  
"Something," Noa answered. "Asuma... why are you so unconcerned about your  
father's death?"  
  
Asuma stumbled. That was sudden. "What?! What brought that up?"  
  
"Well, you haven't said a thing about it since it happened, and I'm  
starting to get worried, that's all," Noa explained.  
  
Asuma looked... well, hurt wasn't the right word. Offended, perhaps.   
Almost angry. "So you're starting to think I did it? That I really DID  
kill him?" His voice showed some of the genuine hurt her question had  
caused, however.  
  
"What? NO! Of course not!" Noa quickly replied. "But... well, you don't  
seem to have reacted to his death much at all. But if you're bored, I  
thought, well, you might want to talk about it."  
  
"Why would I want to talk about it?" he growled angrily.  
  
This was not going well- it reminded Noa of that big fight they'd had over  
his father back when she first discovered that they weren't getting along  
well. They hadn't spoken socially to each other for days after that  
incident, and she really didn't want the same thing to happen to them this  
time. Not talking for days in a situation where they had no-one to talk to  
but each other would be hell. Still, this was something Noa felt she HAD  
to get him to talk about.  
  
"Because... because I care about you, Asuma!" she exclaimed. "I don't want  
something like this eating away at your insides. I know that fighting with  
your father all the time tore you up, because you always got mad whenever I  
brought him up. Angrier than I ever saw you. But I also know that you  
WANTED to make up with him, especially after I saw you run after him that  
time we visited your brother's grave. He's DEAD, Asuma, and you never had  
time to reconcile... don't tell me you don't feel anything about that!"  
  
Asuma winced as if stung. "Geez, Noa... what ARE you trying to do? I KNOW  
my father died before we could return to being the family I wanted to be,  
but I've been trying to not think about it."  
  
"Sorry," Noa apologized. "I don't want to hurt you, but I'm afraid you'll  
be even MORE hurt if you don't get this off your chest. I'm TRYING to  
help."  
  
Asuma glared at her. "You should stick to piloting Alphonse. You're not  
very good at this... especially with the way you spring this sort of thing  
on a person so suddenly." He sighed. "This is the SECOND time you've  
blurted out something about facing up to my feelings with my father- you  
really should learn to ease this sort of thing into the conversation, you  
know?"  
  
Noa smiled guiltily. He didn't seem quite as angry as he had been, and he  
DID have a point. "Sorry, Asuma... but I still think we should talk about  
it."  
  
"Well... talk about what?" Asuma asked. "I mean, it's not like there's  
anything I can say about it. My father's dead- nothing will change that.   
I didn't have time to reconcile with him- nothing will change that, either.  
So, well, it might hurt a bit to think about it, but what can I do? Why  
should I hurt myself even more by thinking about it, when I can't do  
anything about it?" He paused. "I'd rather worry about the present, where  
you and I are stuck out in the snowy mountains, where all we have to do is  
find ways to combat the boredom of life in a hideout while we wait for  
others to find the evidence it will take to allow us to go home. I'm just  
afraid that if we don't find new things to do soon, we'll annoy each other  
to death."  
  
Noa blinked at him. "Hey, are you saying I'm annoying?"  
  
Asuma smiled. "Of course you're annoying. Doesn't mean I don't like you,  
though." His smile changed a bit, showing less humor and more  
understanding. "Look, if it'll make you feel any better, we'll head over  
to my father's grave when this is all over, and maybe I'll have a chance to  
mourn. But right now, while we still don't know how all of this is going  
to end- however peaceful it is at the moment- I'd rather worry more about  
how to survive each day with my sanity intact than worry about what can't  
be fixed."  
  
Noa nodded. That made sense, but it still seemed like a rather... cold...  
way to look at things. "Asuma... if it was ME who was dead, and not your  
father, would you still be acting so casually?"  
  
Asuma blinked. "If... if it was you? That would never happen, though.   
Anything that would get you would also get me, as closely as we work  
together."  
  
"That's not an answer," Noa said.  
  
"No, I guess it isn't," Asuma admitted. "But it's something I can't really  
think about. I wondered, back during the first Griffin incident, what  
would happen if you couldn't handle it- if it killed you before I got there  
to back you up. I couldn't even imagine it- after all, you're probably the  
only thing keeping my life stable, and you have been since we met. I can  
tell you I wouldn't be the same, that's for sure. It's different with my  
father's death, though... I don't have to redesign my life to replace him,  
because he was never really a part of it." He shrugged. "I guess you just  
mean more to me than him."  
  
Noa glanced out a nearby window. The sun was nearly down. "That's...  
well, sweet, sort of. It wasn't really a nice way to put it, though."  
  
"Sorry," he replied.  
  
"But I mean it- it's really sweet. Especially since you don't seem to  
consider staying HERE to not be a major adjustment in your life, but the  
idea of being without me would be one." Noa smiled at him. "It's almost  
nightfall... doesn't this mean I should be the boss, soon?"  
  
Asuma blinked at the apparent change of subject. "Well... I guess, but  
that's not really what I meant..."  
  
"Good!" Noa replied. For some reason, some of her concerns had disappeared  
in that discussion, and her eyes went to the box where they'd placed a  
number of the gag gifts they'd gotten from Takeo. "There's something ELSE  
I want to talk about, but I think you're going to have fun with this  
discussion..."  
  
*****  
  
  
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	4. Part 4

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Part 4:   
The door to the Captains' office burst open. "Captain Gotoh, si... Where  
is Captain Gotoh?"  
  
Gomioka blinked, looking up from the paperwork he was engaged on. "Eh?   
Didn't you know? Captain Gotoh was called away on an investigation, as was  
Captain Shinobu. I'm in command of both units until they return."  
  
Ohta blinked. "And where is Lt. Takeo?"  
  
"She's conducting an independent investigation. Same crime, but a  
different aspect of it."  
  
Ohta smiled widely. He didn't know Gomioka all that well, and the veteran  
pilot of the first unit certainly didn't know him all that well. But  
Gomioka was inexperienced, and might be enough of a pushover to actually  
allow what he was considering.  
  
"Well, then, sir, I guess I'm supposed to bring this request to you.   
Please, sir- may I engage in firearms drills?"  
  
Gomioka sighed. He'd been expecting this. "Well... okay. But no  
live-ammo drills."  
  
Ohta's eyes darkened considerably. It looked like he was running into the  
same opposition he always did. "Sir! Shouldn't we be prepared in case we  
need to battle another labor of equal or greater force than our own?"  
  
Gomioka smirked. "Our labors are at the top of the line, at the moment.   
They can handle anything."  
  
"Sir, what if we have to face another police Ingram? Especially one  
piloted by one of our former officers!?"  
  
Gomioka set down the papers he'd been looking over, and gave Ohta a hard  
look. "Now come on, Officer Isao. Do you REALLY expect Ms. Izumi to  
engage us in combat?"  
  
"YES!" Ohta cried. "Before she broke Asuma out of prison, I might not have  
thought her capable of it. But now that I know to what lengths she would  
go to protect her partner-"  
  
"Ohta," Gomioka sighed. "I'll level with you. Captains Gotoh and Shinobu  
are on their way to proving Officer Shinohara's innocence. It appears it  
may all be a big frame up, involving upper-echelon officers of the police  
department... including our own Chief Fukushima. He's already admitted to  
falsifying some reports that may be part of the cover-up of a theft, and  
Lieutenant Kumagami is working with a close source that may be able to find  
direct evidence of the true culprits guilt. We won't NEED to fight them-  
we'll have them cleared of all charges before any battle takes place."  
  
"Sir, if that was true, then WHY did Shinohara run? It makes no sense!   
He's a police officer- he should have known better. No, I believe Asuma's  
guilty- his own escape convinces me of that!"  
  
Gomioka sighed. "Whether he's innocent or guilty, there will STILL be no  
life-fire gun drills today, Officer Isao. Even if I agreed with you about  
the need- which I don't- it is not in my power to authorize the ammo  
usage." He picked up his papers. "Unless there's something more, you're  
dismissed."  
  
"I can't BELIEVE that you, a fellow labor pilot, would deny me something  
which you must KNOW we need!" Ohta ranted. "If I was you, I'd find some  
way past the red tape and mmmph! MMMMPH! MMMH MMH MMMMMH!"  
  
Hiromi and Shinshi rushed in to the rescue. Hiromi clapped a hand over  
Ohta's mouth while Shinshi started bowing to Gomioka profusely as they  
backed the enraged labor pilot out of the office.  
  
"We're sorry, sir," he explained. "We let him out of our sight for a  
minute. Won't happen again!"  
  
When the door closed, Gomioka shook his head, smirking. "Weird crew. It's  
amazing that Gotoh's able to get ANYTHING from them."  
  
Sighing, he turned the page of the sheet listing the daily orders he was  
reviewing. At the top of that sheet, in large print, highlighted, and  
underlined multiple times, were the words, "Under NO circumstances is  
Officer Ohta Isao to be allowed ANY life-fire practice with the firearms.   
Violation of this directive will result in your immediate transfer from  
Special Vehicles to a lesser position... like meter maid."  
  
*****  
  
"You REBUILT the damn thing?" Takeo demanded, standing next to Wong. They  
were in the construction bay of his floating base of operations, watching a  
newly-rebuilt Griffin receive some fine-tuning.  
  
"Well, we weren't planning to use it against your team again," Wong  
admitted sheepishly. "It's really just an experimental model, a  
demonstration of what our boys in development can produce. Besides,  
considering all the infighting that goes on in Shaft International, it's  
probably a good idea for me to have something like this around for personal  
security."  
  
Takeo raised an eyebrow. "You need a LABOR to protect you due to corporate  
infighting? Just what kind of enemies do you have in Shaft?"  
  
"Well, I DID have to fight off four of 3-S's Abraham labors back during the  
first trial runs of the Griffin, because your people discovered me," Wong  
recalled. "And occasionally someone will bring in a Brochen or something  
and try to use it against me." He shrugged. "What do you expect from a  
company like Shaft?"  
  
Before Takeo could formulate a response to that, one of Wong's subordinates  
ran into the room and delivered a note to him. "Important message, sir,"  
the man said. "From one of your contacts in headquarters."  
  
Wong looked at the memo in his hands, skimming the writing. He looked up  
and smiled at Takeo. "Well, that was sooner than I was expecting."  
  
"What?"  
  
"It seems we've found the location where Shaft is storing the police  
firearm used in the murder. If we can get to it before they clean the  
barrel, your team should be able to clear Asuma with a simple ballistics  
check."  
  
Takeo raised an eyebrow at him. "You do realize that this will probably  
destroy Shaft, don't you? They will be so harshly penalized by the  
government that they won't be able to remain intact."  
  
Wong continued smiling. "Not destroy, but merely fragment. Why, chances  
are section seven will become an independent company under my charge!" He  
nodded to her. "Come on, let's go round up your two friends and we'll  
strike against the facility which holds this vital piece of evidence.   
We'll probably need their help... and the help of their labor. The Griffin  
can't do this alone- at least, not nearly as easily."  
  
*****  
  
Gotoh lit up his cigarette, smiling slightly. "Job well done, if I do say  
so for myself," he commented.  
  
Shinobu grimaced. Gotoh had a lot of bad habits, and smoking was one of  
the worst of them. Usually, she was able to ignore it, but when they were  
in an enclosed space together- like a car or, in this case, the tiny  
waiting room for a prison warden's office, she couldn't help but pay  
attention to it.  
  
Fanning she smoke out of her face, she asked, "What job?"  
  
"Noa's attack. Did you see the two 97's as we were coming in?"  
  
Shinobu shook her head disgustedly. "Those things didn't stand a chance  
against an Ingram."  
  
"I disagree," Gotoh rebuked. "If the pilots in those 97s were good enough,  
they could have given an Ingram considerable trouble. After all, they  
outnumbered her two to one, and had the advantage of knowing the landscape  
reasonably well. I daresay your Gomioka might have stood a chance of  
slowing an Ingram down... if that Ingram was piloted by anyone other than  
Noa." He paused, allowing her time to comment. She didn't- actually, she  
was rather impressed with the female labor pilot, herself, but she didn't  
see what made Gotoh comment on how well Noa's piloting was in this  
incident.  
  
When he was convinced Shinobu wasn't going to say anything, he continued,  
"I was referring to the precision of her assault. Did you notice that  
neither labor had any EXPENSIVE damage done to it? Just damaged knees in  
one and a cut power line in the other. This amount of restraint DESPITE  
her obviously irrational mood at Asuma's arrest and DESPITE being in combat  
with two labors at once." He paused. "If anything, her anger made her  
even better. Which, while she usually fights better when angry, is unusual  
in that she's usually more destructive when mad."  
  
Shinobu considered that briefly. "Maybe she'd calmed down before getting  
into the fight?" she theorized.  
  
"You don't calmly break someone out of jail," Gotoh noted. "But perhaps  
she wasn't ANGRY so much as filled with another emotion..."  
  
His voice trailed off, and Shinobu wondered what it was he was thinking.   
She was about to ask them when Inspector Matsui rejoined them from the  
wardens office.  
  
"Thanks for waiting," the inspector said. "I think my interview was rather  
successful. Come on, let's head back to your car, Gotoh."  
  
The three policemen stood up and slowly made their way out of the prison.   
"What did you learn?" Shinobu asked curiously.  
  
"Enough," Matsui said. "He confirmed what the Deputy Commissioner of Penal  
Facilities admitted to ordering- that Shinohara not be allowed to change  
into plainclothes before his incarceration, and his bribing some of the  
more viscous thugs in the cell Shinohara was placed in to try and arrange  
an 'accident' for young Asuma."  
  
"Of course," Gotoh said. "Whoever planned this knew that there was no way  
the evidence would stand up in court."  
  
Matsui nodded. "Right. At any rate, with everything else we've got, we  
should have a relatively easy time clearing his name... provided we can  
find the murder weapon. Until we find that, a lot of this stuff could be  
considered somewhat circumstantial."  
  
Shinobu blinked. "A conspiracy to murder someone in prison could be  
considered 'circumstantial'?"  
  
Inspector Matsui shook his head. "Not exactly, but it doesn't mean that  
there was a conspiracy to frame that same person. Could just be the police  
trying to eliminate a potential embarrassment. If we could confirm,  
though, that the weapon that Shaft managed to obtain was, indeed, the  
murder weapon... well, that would go pretty far in clearing Asuma's name."  
  
"So how do we find that weapon?" Gotoh asked.  
  
Matsui grinned slightly. "Well, hopefully, that's what your Lieutenant  
Kumagami will handle for us."  
  
*****  
  
Noa was startled awake when her pillow suddenly decided to sit up.   
Blinking sleepily, she exclaimed, "Huh, what?!" when her head hit the  
floor.  
  
"Sorry," Asuma apologized as he quickly disentangled himself from her.   
"But I hear a helicopter landing outside. Make that TWO helicopters."  
  
"Two helicopters?" Noa echoed, the sleep leaving her voice. "Then... it's  
probably not Wong, is it."  
  
Asuma shook his head. "No- probably not." Rolling out of the futon, he  
ran over to where their clothes were stashed and quickly tossed her an  
outfit before he started getting dressed himself. "Keep quiet, but get  
ready to leave in a hurry."  
  
Noa nodded and hurriedly started slipping on her underwear. She was just  
reaching for her blouse when the door opened and in walked Takeo and Wong.  
  
"Oh, terribly sorry," Wong apologized. "I thought you'd be up hours ago-  
it's already the afternoon, after all. Long night?"  
  
Takeo noted Noa's half-naked state (and flat-eyed, shell-shocked gaze), saw  
a shirtless Asuma, and blushed. "Um... if you want, we can leave and give  
you two a chance to get dressed."  
  
Asuma shook his head, slipping his hands into the sleeves of a shirt.   
"You're back several days sooner than I was expecting, so you must have  
important news. If it's that important, I don't want to wait to find out  
what it is."  
  
Takeo noticed Wong eyeing Noa, who was still just in her underwear and had  
added a blush that was going all the way down her neck, and gave him a  
short elbow in the side. "Hey!" she exclaimed, annoyed on Noa's behalf-  
and maybe just a tiny bit jealous. "Concentrate on business, here!"  
  
Noa, finally shaken out of her stupor, "Eep!"ed and ducked into the  
bathroom, taking her clothes with her. "I'll change in here," her voice  
echoed out from its confines. "I'll still hear whatever you guys say."  
  
Wong, still rubbing his side, frowned at Takeo briefly before turning his  
attention back to Asuma. "Well, we have some good news. Pack your bags  
and get your things ready- we found the facility which is storing the  
weapon that killed your father. We brought a special helicopter which can  
airlift your labor to our ship, and from there we'll head for the target."   
He smiled again. "After all, you'll probably want to be present as we  
clear your name."  
  
Noa emerged from the bathroom, having dressed in record time. "You mean  
this is it?" she asked.  
  
Wong nodded reassuringly. "Yes, we're about to take action. Why don't you  
go and start your labor to get it outside, okay? Once it's on the ship,  
we'll give it a maintenance look-see, free of charge, but we need to get it  
there, first."  
  
Noa nodded, and started outside, but Asuma grabbed her by the shoulder  
before she took more than a step.  
  
"I don't trust him," he whispered to her. "So once you get Alphonse  
loaded, download the movement data to your backup disk and dump the  
computer's memory core. Then hide the movement disk- somewhere on your  
person, if possible."  
  
Noa nodded. "Right." She squinted at him before she left. "Start  
packing, though- I'm looking forward to clearing your name. But don't  
forget anything." Without thinking about the implications of her actions,  
she gave him a quick peck on the side of the mouth and winked at him before  
bolting out the door.  
  
Asuma flushed as both Takeo and Wong shot identical knowing smiles at him.   
"What?!" he exclaimed defensively.  
  
Takeo just shook her head in amusement. "Come on, Romeo, let's start  
packing up your little lovenest, okay?"  
  
Asuma's embarrassment grew, but he started packing anyway. When he had  
recovered his composure, he turned to Wong. "Ya know, I have a hard time  
believing you're really helping us, even WITH all of the reasons you gave.   
Are you sure you aren't getting anything out of this?"  
  
Wong laughed. "Of COURSE I'm getting something out of this!" He gestured  
to Takeo. "Didn't she tell you not to trust me? If she didn't, I'm  
ashamed of how lackadaisical her police work has become since I've been  
around her!" At Asuma's dumbfounded look, he took pity on the younger man  
and explained. "Do you really think my engineers haven't DREAMED of having  
a chance to look through one of your labors up close and personal? I don't  
know how much of what we find will be new to them, since I suspect that you  
just told your girlfriend out there to dump the Ingram's hard drive, but by  
helping you out I'm doing my job to the best of my satisfaction. So, of  
course I'm getting something out of it."  
  
Noa returned before Asuma had a chance to respond. "Alphonse is loaded up  
and ready to go. How much more packing do we need to do?"  
  
"We're pretty much done," Wong announced. "If you'll help us carry a box  
or two out to the helicopter, we'll be ready to go in just a few minutes."  
  
Noa nodded, picking up a box and heading outside, Asuma carrying two of his  
own boxes on her tail. Wong and Takeo continued to pack up.  
  
Just before she was going to close her box, Takeo spied one last item that  
she could pack up. Grabbing the box of condoms, the glanced inside. As  
she had suspected, a couple of them were missing.  
  
*****  
  
Gomioka sighed, taking care of some paperwork as he manned the phone at  
Shinobu's desk. She and Gotoh had just called, letting him know that the  
two captains were returning to base and should be back in about four hours.  
Thankfully, no calls had yet come in while they were out, but he still had  
to keep waiting for any possible incoming calls.  
  
A snore from the desk across the room disturbed his reverie. In order to  
keep him from annoying his teammates with rants against Asuma's escape,  
Gomioka had drafted him into answering Gotoh's phone. Thankfully, the day  
had been so light that Ohta drifted off to sleep with the inactivity. The  
only problem was that Ohta snored. Loudly. VERY loudly.  
  
"Gah! What a buzzsaw," Gomioka muttered, turning back to his paperwork.   
Thanks to discussions of the possible formation of a third unit, his  
workload had been tripled. Thanks to his being given interim command of  
the SV2, he was having a difficult time keeping up, and was VERY glad of  
the peace and quiet. Ohta's snoring, however, was not something he'd  
factored into the equation, and he was constantly being distracted by the  
annoying sound.  
  
The phone on Gotoh's desk rang, startling Ohta awake. He quickly answered  
it, and Gomioka was very glad for the reprieve from the constant  
disturbance that was Ohta.  
  
That reprieve didn't last long. "They're going to be WHERE?!" Ohta  
exploded, quickly scribbling something down. "Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!"   
Slamming the phone down, he grabbed the piece of paper and jumped out of  
the desk chair. "Lieutenant Gomioka, sir!"  
  
Gomioka sighed. "Yes, Ohta?"  
  
"A call from headquarters, sir! Noa and Asuma are expected to be at this  
address by 1600 hours, and we are to scramble to apprehend them!"  
  
Raising an eyebrow, the other police officer stood up and walked over to  
get the paper Ohta was waving. When he saw the address, he frowned.   
"Hmm... how do we know they'll be there?"  
  
"Apparently, there was an anonymous tip, sir!"  
  
The frown grew. "Really? And how do we know this isn't just an attempt to  
distract us so that someone can commit a more serious crime?"  
  
Ohta blinked. "I... don't know, sir. But we've been ordered to scramble  
both units, sir!"  
  
Gomioka sighed. "Oh, very well. Go tell Sakaki to prep the labors for  
immediate action."  
  
Ohta saluted. "Yes, sir!" he cried, and started out the door. Gomioka  
considered things for a moment.  
  
"Wait! Belay that!" he ordered. "You get everyone up and ready to go. I  
want to talk to Sakaki about something else, as well."  
  
"Yes, sir!" Ohta acknowledged, then bolted from the office.  
  
Gomioka frowned. "Hmm... now, who would know where Noa and Asuma are going  
to be OTHER than Noa and Asuma?"  
  
*****  
  
Noa smiled as she leaned into Asuma. His arm was around her, and the young  
couple was standing on the ships deck watching the scenery pass by as they  
sailed to their destination. One short mission, and they'd be able to come  
out of hiding. And then... maybe she could 'introduce' her father to her  
boyfriend (it might be cute to see her father's reaction when he discovered  
that the boy who had come to take her home from the grave of Alphonse the  
First had won her heart). That might make vacations at home bearable- and  
might finally be enough for her father to stop bugging her about quitting  
the SV2 and finding a husband. Briefly, Noa wondered if Asuma was going to  
ask her to marry her at some point. She wasn't sure he would- he didn't  
seem to be the sort of person who would think of that kind of thing. And  
to her, it didn't matter any more- she and Asuma were together, in a way  
she never thought possible, and she loved it. They hadn't actually said  
those three special little words to each other, yet, but that was only a  
matter of time. And maybe a matter of resolving this situation they were  
in- something which Noa was very glad to finally be doing.  
  
Asuma had been rather quiet since they'd left the cabin- almost as if he  
was brooding. He seemed to want to talk to her about something, but was  
reluctant to say anything. She could sense it wasn't because he was  
nervous about whatever he was going to say (which, she was certain, meant  
that he wasn't thinking about popping the question to her just yet), but  
felt that he just didn't want this moment to end. She didn't, either, but  
it was obvious there was more reason for him bringing her up here then just  
a nice cuddle.  
  
"Asuma," she began.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"What is it you want to talk about?" she asked. "I know you brought me up  
here for some reason, and I don't think you're enough of a romantic for  
THIS to be it," she said, giving him a slight squeeze.  
  
"I'm afraid you're right- I don't think I've got a romantic bone in my  
body," Asuma replied. "I just wanted to talk to you about this 'mission'  
we're going on."  
  
Noa smiled at him. "Well, I certainly don't mind being held by you while  
we talk about it."  
  
Asuma half-smiled at her. "I don't mind it, either." His face got serious  
and he continued. "Noa... I'm a little worried. I don't really trust  
Wong- I don't know what it is he's trying to get out of helping us, and I  
don't trust his promises. I'm not even sure we can trust his information."  
  
Noa looked at him in surprise. "I don't trust him, either, but he's right  
when he says we don't have any choice. Besides, what do you think we can  
do about it?"  
  
Asuma sighed and shook his head. "There's nothing I CAN think of to do  
about it. But I... I just want you to be careful, okay? Don't trust the  
Griffin. In fact, if we find the murder weapon like we're hoping to, don't  
touch it OR let the Griffin touch it, okay? You don't want to ruin the  
ballistics, or else this will all be pointless." He swallowed nervously.   
"And... look, don't sacrifice your life for this, okay? It's not worth it,  
whatever the situation. I'll be happy enough living in hiding with you,  
okay?"  
  
Tears almost came to Noa's eyes at that statement. "And you say you don't  
have a romantic bone in your body. Asuma, I-"  
  
A door just three feet away from them clanked open, startling the couple.   
Takeo walked out, noticed how they were holding each other, and giggled  
slightly in embarrassment. "Oops- didn't mean to interrupt. Asuma,  
Richard wants to talk you about something."  
  
Asuma sighed, looked an apology at Noa, and disengaged himself. "I'd  
better go see what he wants. I'll be back in a few minutes."  
  
Noa looked at him expectantly, but frowned when he just ran through the  
door.  
  
Takeo noticed Noa's expression and chuckled. "You were expecting a  
good-bye kiss, weren't you?"  
  
Noa flushed. "Well... I should have known better. He just TOLD me he  
'doesn't have a romantic bone in his body.'"  
  
Takeo smiled. "Well, that's to be expected. I imagine he has his upside,  
though."  
  
Noa smiled. "Yeah... he's just wonderful."  
  
Takeo's eye twinkled. "So... how good is he in bed?"  
  
Noa coughed, startled. "Er, what do you mean?"  
  
Takeo's smile widened, taking on that characteristic smirk which reminded  
Noa and Asuma of Richard Wong. "Well, while we were packing your room up I  
discovered that a couple of condoms were missing from that package I sent  
you. What else did you use them for, an art project?"  
  
Noa blushed deeply. "Er... well, okay. Yeah, we... eventually went that  
far." She giggled in embarrassment. "Just a few hours after I told him I  
wasn't ready for it, too. He promised he'd let me set the pace, and I did.  
I moved a bit faster than I thought I would... and, quite frankly, I'm  
glad I did." She paused, not looking at Takeo. "I don't really have  
anything to compare it to, but I think we were good together. We seemed to  
fit each other perfectly, and... well, I don't want to give too many  
details, but I think we both enjoyed it very much."  
  
Takeo nodded. "I'm glad for you."  
  
"Takeo," Noa hesitated. "Asuma's... very worried about Utsumi's  
motivations in helping us, and thinks I'm in serious danger from not just  
this strike we're making on the Shaft warehouse, but also from the Griffin.  
You know Utsumi pretty well- as well as I know Asuma, I think... um, just  
how much do I really need to worry?"  
  
Takeo raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you can say I really know Richard  
that well. I don't think he'll intentionally hurt the two of you, but he  
doesn't usually think about that sort of thing when he makes his plans.   
But if you think I know him as well as you know Asuma, well... you're sadly  
mistaken."  
  
Noa looked out at the sea, leaning against a piece of railing. "Didn't  
you, er, sleep with him, too?"  
  
Takeo sighed, joining Noa at the railing. "A long time ago, yes. I didn't  
really know him well enough, then, and he's changed some since I last saw  
him."  
  
"Do you think I know Asuma well enough? Do you think I got into this  
relationship with him too quickly?" Noa said, almost frightened.  
  
Takeo laughed. "Hardly. You two are so attached to each other around the  
SV2, everyone assumed you've been lovers for some time. If anything, you  
two know each other too well- now there's nothing new for you to learn  
about each other!"  
  
Noa blinked. "You really think so?"  
  
Takeo's smirk returned. "Remember when you had that toothache?"  
  
"Don't remind me," Noa grimaced. "That was VERY painful, and Asuma wasn't  
much help at all with all his teasing."  
  
"Hmm," Takeo mused. "You might be surprised to know that, until we found  
out from Asuma that it was a toothache, everyone assumed that he'd gotten  
you pregnant and you were upset about it."  
  
"WHAT!?"  
  
"Why do you think everyone was trying to force him to make up with you?"  
Takeo laughed. "Even after he told us it was just a toothache, some of us  
thought he was just covering up until you overdosed on Shinshi's pain pills  
and fell asleep in the staff meeting. Well, we finally believed him when  
Gotoh asked him directly what was going on with you- after Gotoh drew a  
watch on your wrist. Oh, that was funny..."  
  
Noa blinked. "You mean Asuma really DIDN'T do that to me?"  
  
Takeo just laughed harder. "Oh, my.... Gotoh does have some sense of  
humor, doesn't he?"  
  
"Well, I didn't think it was funny!" Noa huffed. She paused, reminiscing  
to that incident. "He always teased me a lot, but he helped me when he  
thought I needed it."  
  
"Eh?"  
  
"Asuma. He teased me the whole time I had that toothache- and rode me so  
hard I puked when we had to go into action- but he helped me out a lot,  
too. When I was ordered to wax Alphonse- which was shocking in and of  
itself, since I never had to be ordered to do that- I fell asleep on his  
shoulder. It was those stupid pain pills that did it to me, but I wasn't  
able to stop myself. I heard him gasp right before I passed out, and saw  
him stretching out to catch me in case I fell." She paused. "Good thing I  
didn't."  
  
Takeo smirked. "You know, we always thought your relationship with him was  
kind of twisted, since it seemed so linked with your labor. Did you know  
once, when he was trying to wake you up, you called him 'Alphonse?' You  
told him to shut up, so you obviously heard him talking to you and realized  
it was his voice."  
  
"Hey!" Noa snapped. "My love for Asuma has NOTHING to do with my love for  
Alphonse! I think of Alphonse as a pet, nothing more! Asuma's...  
different." She paused. "And if you think my relationship with Asuma's  
twisted, what about your fling with Utsumi, the master of labor crime?"  
  
Takeo gaped at her. A thousand replies went through her mind, but Noa's  
honest anger eliminated half of them. In fact, only one burned its way  
through her mind.  
  
"It wasn't just a fling," she muttered softly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I said it wasn't just a fling," Takeo repeated. "My relationship with  
Richard was SO much more than a fling... that I just don't think I'll ever  
get over it enough to find someone else."  
  
Noa blinked, her anger gone. Shifting to face the older woman, she asked,  
"Do you still love him, then?"  
  
Takeo smiled, once again taking on the Wong-esque expression. "Tell me  
this, Noa. If Asuma HAD killed his father, and you KNEW he had killed his  
father, would you stop loving him?"  
  
Noa blinked. "Well... when I broke him out, I knew that he hadn't. I just  
knew it. Still, he asked me why I was so sure he didn't. I asked him, to  
his face, if he had. At that point, I knew that even if he said 'yes,' I'd  
stick with him. I didn't know WHY I was planning to stick with him, but I  
knew that doing so was something I was looking forward to." She paused.   
"I guess the answer to your question is yes, I would still love him. Even  
if I didn't realize it."  
  
Takeo nodded. "Richard Wong has done everything you could possibly think  
of that I would disapprove of- except maybe sleep with someone else- and  
despite all of that... despite all of that, I still sometimes think I want  
to spend the rest of my life with him."  
  
Noa coughed. "You might want to let Hiromi know that."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"He's got a crush on you, I think. Just like you say everyone thought  
Asuma and I were together, everyone seems to know Hiromi likes you but  
you."  
  
Takeo smiled sadly. "Hiromi's a nice guy. Very gentle, I guess somewhat  
handsome. But... he isn't Richard. I'm sorry about that, and I hate to  
disappoint him, but it just won't work."  
  
"And your relationship with Utsumi will?"  
  
Takeo paused. Trying to change the subject, she said, "Say, why don't we  
go see what the boys are talking about? For some reason, they always seem  
to want to leave us girls out of everything."  
  
Noa knew what Takeo was trying to do, but decided to let her do it. After  
all, she didn't want to be apart from Asuma any longer than she had to  
right now. Something about this upcoming mission was starting to worry  
her, even if she had been looking forward to it just a while ago.   
Something about Asuma's warning... about the chance of having to fight the  
Griffin... about the fact that Asuma was worried, himself. Perhaps it was  
just nerves, but she felt the need to reassure him, and to be reassured  
herself.  
  
Besides, Takeo seemed to need a chance to talk to Utsumi herself.  
  
*****  
  
"Ah! Mr. Shinohara, welcome!" Wong greeted.  
  
Asuma grimaced. For some reason, Wong's constant cheerfulness was starting  
to get on his nerves. "Utsumi," he acknowledged.  
  
"I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time?" the elder man said, noticing the  
sour tone in Asuma's voice.  
  
"Not really, no," Asuma admitted. "Noa and I were just on deck, admiring  
the scenery."  
  
"Oh! Terribly sorry," Wong said apologetically. "I know how precious  
moments like that are. I just thought that, as a courtesy to you and to  
help you make plans for the encounter, I should give you a few of the  
performance specifications for the Griffin."  
  
Asuma took a proffered folder, but his eyes didn't leave Wong's. "Oh? And  
how, exactly, do you know how important a moment like that is? For some  
reason, I have a hard time seeing YOU as being able to know something like  
that."  
  
"You wound me, my dear Mr. Shinohara," Wong complained theatrically. "Do  
you really think of me so poorly as to assume I don't know anything about  
matters of the heart?"  
  
"No," Asuma said evenly. "However, while I may not be a romantic or  
anything like that, I can appreciate a few moments of peace right before  
you know you're about to risk your life for something. I can't see you  
caring about anything enough to knowingly risk your life for it, so I don't  
see you ever HAVING a moment like that to appreciate it."  
  
Wong paused, his smile fading. "I have, though. There was something I  
cared for like that, once. Someone."  
  
Asuma snorted. "You expect me to believe that? Look, everything I know  
about you tells me that you let other people take your risks for you. When  
have you ever had to worry about never having a chance to see someone  
again?"  
  
Wong turned the most serious expression Asuma had ever seen at him. "When  
I tried to resign from Shaft for Takeo." He paused. "I failed to resign  
from Shaft, and I didn't see Takeo again for several years. So not only do  
I know what it's like to be in your situation with Ms. Izumi, I also know  
what it's like to have a moment like that, and then actually lose what it  
is you're fighting for."  
  
Asuma was having a hard time keeping his skeptical attitude, but still  
couldn't quite take Wong on his word. "How do you 'fail' to resign from a  
company, and how in the world would that keep you from Takeo?"  
  
Wong's smile returned. "The last day I saw her- that is, the last time I  
saw her before my security agent shot her- I swore to her that I would  
return to her after resigning from the company. She'd been begging me to  
quit for some time, and finally I was able to say 'yes,' I would quit. So  
I went in to work, walked into my bosses office, and handed him a letter of  
resignation."  
  
Asuma snorted. "What happened, did he make an offer of a promotion?"  
  
Wong nodded. "At first. My own division, a vice-presidency, a huge raise,  
stock options, the works." Wong laughed. "I said no."  
  
That surprised Asuma. "Then, what-"  
  
"Apparently, they'd been keeping me under surveillance for some time. They  
knew my weakness," Wong answered before the question could be asked. "They  
knew Takeo was a cop on loan to Interpol, and they knew that she'd made  
contact with me in order to spy on Shaft. She was a security risk, they  
told me. If I quit, they warned me, her life would be forfeit. But if I  
stayed with the company, accepted the promotions, and promised not to go  
back to her... well, then they'd spare her life." He broke eye contact  
with Asuma, and started staring at his feet. "You've been asking me since  
I met you in that lodge what I was getting out of this. I'll let you know,  
now... if I can free you by showing that Shaft assassinated your father,  
then Shaft will be destroyed and I will be free of its yoke. If I am free  
of Shaft, then... then I can return to Takeo, and tell her I've kept my  
promise. I am sure there will have to be a period in which I will need to  
earn her forgiveness, but once I've done that I can ask her to marry me,  
like I was planning to however long ago it was I handed in my resignation."  
He paused. "Never trust me, my friend, but know I am telling the truth  
this once. What I'm getting out of helping you... is Takeo."  
  
Neither of them said a word for quite some time. Finally, though, Noa and  
Takeo arrived and broke the silence.  
  
"There you are!" Noa cried. "What have you two been talking about?"  
  
Asuma coughed. "Not much. Just going over the specs for the Black Labor,  
so I can help come up with a strategy better."  
  
Wong nodded. "Indeed, but we seem to have drifted off into idle chatter.   
I suggest you two go and have some fun. We've got a long day... say, have  
you been to your cabin yet? I suggest you go- I ordered the chef to  
prepare a special meal for the two of you." He gave Asuma a wink.  
  
Asuma got the hidden message in the wink. "Um, good idea... I think."  
  
Noa nodded. She wanted to give Takeo and Wong some time alone, herself.   
"I think so, too. Come on, Asuma- I'm hungry!" Grabbing Asuma by the arm,  
she dragged him off in a run.  
  
Takeo giggled. "Were we ever like that?"  
  
Wong looked at her, eyebrows raised. "'We?' I don't think 'we' had much  
of an opportunity to act like that. We were too busy doing other things...  
more, er, mature things."  
  
Takeo gave a very unladylike snort. "Maybe we would have been better off  
if we'd had more fun like they're having. What IS this 'special' meal  
you've had prepared?"  
  
Wong's eyes twinkled. "Oh, only the best. The best sake money can buy,  
premium Kyoto beef, the freshest shrimp around, and, because I figure Asuma  
will be needing the boost before they leave that cabin, a plate of raw  
oysters."  
  
Takeo looked confused. "Raw oysters?"  
  
Wong nodded. "The Viagra of seafoods. They've only got a few hours before  
they're going into action- I figure they'll need that one last 'time'  
together."  
  
Takeo laughed a little at first, then hesitated. In a rather more serious  
tone then she'd been speaking with him before, she began, "You know, I was  
chatting with Noa, and realized something. I think we need to talk."  
  
Wong tensed, but nodded. "Yes, I think we need to talk, too. There are a  
couple things I think you'd better know I'm planning."  
  
*****  
  
"Shinobu?" Gotoh said softly, shaking the other captain slightly. "Time to  
get up. We're back."  
  
Shinobu blinked her eyes awake. "Eh, what?" she said sleepily. She tried  
to stretch out the crick in her neck- she always got one when sleeping in a  
car.  
  
"We're back. Time to go in and see if Gomioka has any messages from Takeo  
for us."  
  
She yawned. "Maybe she's been able to wrap up the case without us. This  
whole investigation disturbs me."  
  
"Doubtful," Matsui said pessimistically from behind Gotoh. "I imagine it  
will take either a very high placed source in Shaft or a stroke of the  
greatest luck in the world for her to have found the weapon already."  
  
"Inspector Matsui," Shinobu intoned. "Has anyone ever told you that you  
have no sense of subtlety?"  
  
Matsui grinned. "Nope."  
  
"Consider yourself notified," she ordered.  
  
"Yes, ma'am!"  
  
Gotoh led the trio into the SV2 headquarters building, but before they  
could even reach their office they were intercepted by Sakaki.  
  
"Captain Nagumo," he said, approaching Shinobu. "Lieutenant Gomioka left  
this note for you. My mechanics and I have followed his instructions to  
the letter."  
  
Shinobu scanned the letter Sakaki handed to her, a frown growing on her  
face. "Inspector Matsui," she said absently.  
  
"Yes, ma'am?"  
  
She pulled a key out of her pocket and tossed it to him. "Go up to my  
office and use that key to open the top right drawer at my desk. In it,  
you'll find a labor movement disk. Bring it to me."  
  
"Er, why?" Matsui said, somewhat surprised.  
  
Shinobu stared at him hard. "It appears as if I'm going to be needed as a  
labor pilot."  
  
*****  
  
A few hours after their first sojourn to the deck, Noa and Asuma left their  
cabin to make a second. On their way out the door, though, they bumped  
into Takeo and Wong.  
  
Takeo blushed upon meeting the others, and withdrew a hand which had been  
held inside Wong's. That only drew attention to the fact that they had  
been holding hands, however, and so she blushed even further.  
  
Wong coughed politely. "Oh, my. Well, we were going to be getting the two  
of you ourselves in a few minutes. We've arrived- in about fifteen  
minutes, we'll be docking at our destination, and... well, we'll see what  
happens after that. I suspect there'll be a fight of some sort, but we may  
be able to avoid that."  
  
Asuma's eyes widened slightly. "Prep time, then?"  
  
"That is correct," Wong acknowledged, nodding.  
  
Asuma cursed slightly under his breath. "Come on, Noa- back to our room.   
We need to get our equipment ready," he ordered, giving her an apologetic  
glance. It seemed they wouldn't have that last moment on deck, after all.  
  
Noa nodded, and the two of them started back down the corridor to their  
stateroom. "Was I seeing things," she said, the moment she was out of the  
other couple's earshot, "Or was Takeo... 'acting different' towards  
Utsumi?"  
  
Asuma half-smiled. "Yeah... I think they made up or something. But do you  
really want to spend our last few moments before a potential fight talking  
about them?"  
  
Noa's face lit up like a candle. "You mean you want to talk about us?" she  
said, opening the door to their cabin.  
  
Asuma blinked. "Um... that wasn't what I was thinking of-"  
  
Noa's face fell. "Oh."  
  
"But if you'd rather do that than figure out ways of surviving what's up  
ahead, I don't have a problem with that," he finished, pulling out the  
suitcase which held their headset radios and Noa's helmet.  
  
Noa flushed. "Um, sorry. I guess that IS more important."  
  
Asuma paused as he was adjusting his headset. Not meeting her eyes, he  
sighed. "Maybe it isn't." At Noa's surprised look, he explained, "Look,  
we have a few things we might be able to go over, but they'd just be  
reminders of things I'm pretty sure you won't forget. But we might not  
succeed in this, and if we don't we need to decide what we're going to do."  
  
Noa slowly moved over to the suitcase, pulling out her own radio and  
helmet. "We-ell," she said, drawing the word out as she thought. "If this  
doesn't work, then I'll do whatever you need me to do."  
  
Asuma sighed. "If this doesn't work, then there's probably no chance of  
ever clearing my name, you know. We'd have three real options. The first  
is for us to remain refugees in Japan forever- and as many fond memories as  
I have of your family's would-be ski resort, I don't think we can keep  
hiding out there for the rest of our lives. The second would be for us to  
leave the country- forever. Go somewhere that Japan doesn't have an  
extradition treaty with, and see if we can't forge a new life their. It  
would mean learning a new language and getting new careers, but it's  
probably preferable to the first option."  
  
Noa adjusted her helmet, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't, she  
prompted him, "And the final option?"  
  
"I can surrender to the police. I'd be arrested, and probably jailed for  
life, but at least you'd most likely be able to get out of being sent to  
jail, which would allow you to live the rest of your life without being on  
the run. You could see your family and friends, and probably yo-"  
  
"Stop!" Noa screeched, startling Asuma. "Asuma Shinohara, if you even  
THINK that I'm going to abandon you after I've gone this far, you've got  
another thing coming. If we DON'T succeed in this, then I wouldn't mind  
living in another country for the rest of our lives, as long as it was you  
I was living with. But I WON'T accept any plan which takes you away from  
me, got it?"  
  
Asuma continued to look somewhat amazed at Noa's outburst, but soon  
regained his composure. "It was just an option, and not one I particularly  
cared for, either. But I figured you deserved a chance to think about it."  
He smiled at her. "But don't worry about it- all we need to do is prove  
that the murder weapon belongs to Shaft, and you won't need to make that  
decision."  
  
Noa nodded. "Right. I won't let those bastards who framed you get away  
with it!"  
  
'Good,' Asuma thought. 'She's mad- whoever tries to stop her doesn't stand  
a chance. But she'd better relax for the moment- she doesn't need that  
anger interfering with her until she's in combat.' He paused. 'Well,  
there's one thing I can think of to tell her that might help... too bad we  
don't have more time, or there's something else we could do, but that'll  
have to wait.'  
  
"Noa?"  
  
Noa met his eyes with a fiery gaze. "Yes, Asuma?" she stated fiercely.  
  
"I don't know how all this will turn out, but there's something I think we  
need to say to each other before it happens. Something I'm pretty sure we  
know already, but we still should say the words first." He took a deep  
breath. This was hard for him, but he had to say it. It might be his last  
chance. One thing that Wong's story of his and Takeo's failed courtship  
told him was not to wait for things like this, as the opportunity might  
never come again. "Noa, I know we haven't said it yet, but I know it, and  
I hope you know it, that I... that I love you."  
  
Noa's face softened considerably. "Asuma...."  
  
Not able to come up with an adequate verbal response, she grabbed him up  
into her arms and started kissing him. Hard. As if it might be the last  
time she ever could.  
  
The kiss was still going on when Bud Reynard, the young pilot of the  
Griffin, burst into the room. He pulled to a stop, blinked at the pair,  
and whistled. "Go for it, you two!" he cheered. "I'd ask to see more of  
this kind of action, but you need to get into your Ingram, big sis, for  
another kind! Seems we have a few other labors to play with before we can  
find that gun."  
  
Noa and Asuma broke apart in surprise, blushing badly. "Um, I'll be right  
there," the female half of the team said, pulling on her helmet. Asuma  
sighed, taking a moment to relax before he had to get into position,  
himself.  
  
Richard Wong, accompanied by Takeo, entered the room as Asuma was glancing  
around for one last check, trying to make certain he hadn't missed  
anything.  
  
"Are you ready to go?" Wong asked him. "We probably should be heading to  
the observation deck, so we can get good seats for the upcoming round of  
entertainment."  
  
Asuma snorted, leaving the room and following the other man. "I'd hardly  
call 'desperately trying to regain my innocence' to be 'entertainment,' but  
yeah, I'm ready to go."  
  
Wong pouted jokingly, leading the trio down the corridor and up a set of  
stairs. "Oh? Well, perhaps you ARE under a lot of stress over this  
incident, but I suspect the upcoming battle will be quite interesting to  
watch from an impartial standpoint. I can already tell you there are going  
to be more contestants in this little game than we were initially  
expecting."  
  
"There are?" Asuma said in surprise as they neared the door to the  
observation deck. "Who?"  
  
Wong opened the door and continued on to the edge of the open-air platform.  
"Ah, smell that sea air."   
  
They hadn't quite moored at the pier, yet, which gave them plenty of time  
to survey the scene before any action had to be taken. Handing Asuma a  
pair of binoculars before donning one of his own, he pointed.  
  
"Check over there, by the loading dock, behind all those crates. You  
wouldn't be able to see it from shore."  
  
Asuma squinted. "Hmm... a labor carrier of some kind. I don't recognize  
it- certainly isn't one of the standard Shaft carriers."  
  
Wong nodded. "Nope- it just happens to be an Interpol labor carrier. And  
check out the labor standing next to it."  
  
"That's odd... I can't identify that one at all. It looks fairly advanced,  
but doesn't really look like an experimental..."  
  
"It's not. And I'm surprised at you- your the son of the founder of the  
largest labor corporation in Japan, and you don't even recognize one of  
your foreign competitors' labors?"  
  
Shinohara shrugged. "Not all of them. I know every model in the companies  
which have ever tried peddling their wares in Japan, but if they haven't,  
well, I really haven't paid much attention."  
  
"Ah, that explains it," Wong nodded. "It's an American model. After you  
successfully proved your own company's defect with the Hyper Operating  
System some months back, the New York City police opened bids for high-end  
labors, excluding Shinohara Heavy Industries and all other competitors who  
had adopted the HOS, and turned down the contract your company had to  
supply them with the Zero's."  
  
Asuma nodded, still looking at the unusual labor. "I'm familiar with that  
much of the situation. I'd hardly call it MY company, however- I would  
never have marketed a labor if I knew that it was defective, hoping to fix  
the problem later with 'upgrades' which didn't take place until after  
hundreds of billions of yen's worth of damage was done."  
  
"Chrysler, an American-based car company, developed the eventual victor of  
the New York City Police contract- the CPJ-7 'Rumbler' model. Unless I  
miss my guess, the pilot of that Interpol labor may very well be a friend  
of yours. Then again, you aren't exactly in a situation where you can  
trust your friends, are you?"  
  
Asuma grimaced. "I can trust Noa. And when it comes to most of the  
others, I think I can trust them to be fair- and to act the way I think  
they'll act in a given situation."  
  
Wong glanced at Takeo, who was idly picking at her nails, obviously bored  
with the whole conversation. "Well... yes. I suppose you can sometimes  
predict how people will act," he replied wistfully, remembering a certain  
conversation in a laundry room some months back. "In addition to the  
American labor, there's our two labors, plus I can make out a team of four  
Shaft Security Systems' Abraham labors, and at least two Brochens. There's  
obviously more here that my company is trying to protect than I knew." He  
smiled. "It should be an excellent test of our two labor's fighting  
skills."  
  
"This isn't a test," Asuma growled.  
  
"Sure it is!" Wong exclaimed. "Yes, maybe there's more to it than a simple  
test, or demonstration, but it is nonetheless a great opportunity to see  
how my new, improved Griffin handles itself. I could also point out that  
it should be a good test of your little girlfriend's piloting skills, but I  
assume you don't really care about that."  
  
"Noa's the best labor pilot out there," Asuma sounded out through clenched  
teeth. "I don't need a test to tell me that. If she wasn't, your old  
Griffin would have crushed her."  
  
"Perhaps," Wong admitted, his smile unwavering. "I suspect you and your  
friends had something to do with that, as well, though. Especially you,  
from what I've seen. But right now, that's unimportant- we have a 'game'  
to prepare for. Hmm... do you want me to give you the specs of each of  
those labors, so you can do your job as Noa's 'backup' better?"  
  
"Just the Rumbler's. I know the others by heart."  
  
"Ah. That's easy- physical strength roughly the equivalent of the Saturn,  
speed roughly equal to the Brochen, and a very primative neural net system  
for the software. She may carry a firearm of a smaller caliber than the  
Ingram's, but Americans usually have better cared for guns with higher  
quality ammunition and more accurate marksmen in their Patlabors. Japan,  
for some reason, doesn't see the need of training its labor pilots to use  
the tools it gives them."  
  
Asuma shrugged. "I dunno about other units in Japan, but we deal with  
urban combat more than anything. Despite the protests of one Ohta Isao,  
using our labors' guns in city limits usually gets more complaints than  
letting the criminals get away." He paused. "Noa's a terrible marksmen in  
practice, but when you let the adreneline start pumping in her, she can be  
one of the best. Once, she ended a hostage situation by firing a bullet  
inches away from both the hostage and the hostage-taker. The concussion of  
the blast knocked the supposed gun- which was actually an umbrella- right  
out of the guy's hands. As I recall, that was Takeo's first assignment  
with us."  
  
Silent up until that point, Takeo moved over to join the talk. "I remember  
that. Considering the reputation Section Two had before I joined up, I was  
astonished to see someone of Noa's skills as part of it. I quickly learned  
the reputation wasn't because of a failure to produce, but because the  
person I was put in charge of was usually a bit too much of a hothead.   
Ohta can be really sweet sometimes, and when he's calm enough he can  
actually work pretty well, but... well, he doesn't seem to have control of  
himself all that often, it seems."  
  
There was a slight lurch indicating that the ship was properly moored. A  
member of the freighter's crew joined them a moment later. "Chief Utsumi,  
sir!" he saluted. Wong frowned slightly at the formality but motioned for  
the man to continue. "Docking is complete, sir. We can be ready to raise  
and activate the two labors in exactly three minutes, sir."  
  
Wong looked at Asuma. "Well, this is your party. Are you ready?"  
  
Asuma switched on his radio headset. "Noa, can you read me?"  
  
"Loud and clear."  
  
"There are seven labors visible from the dockyard. Two Brochens, four  
Abrahams, and an American labor which may or may not get involved. Can you  
handle it?"  
  
There was a pause. "I don't know," she said. "The Griffin can probably  
handle the Abrahams easily, and I've been able to handle multiple Brochens  
before- but it will be dangerous, especially if the American labor gets  
involved. I don't think it would hurt to try, though. Alphonse hasn't  
ever let me down, yet."  
  
Asuma smiled slightly, Noa's voice dropping some of the tension his  
conversation with Richard Wong had created. "Okay. Get ready- we're going  
to deck up you and Bud."  
  
"Roger."  
  
Flipping off his mouthpiece, he turned to Wong. "Raise 'em."  
  
*****  
  
Kanuka Clancy was surveying the harbor's facilities with a keen attention  
to the goings-on around her. As of yet, no-one of importance- either here  
or at home- knew that she was even in Japan, and she hoped to keep it that  
way for a while. Hopefully, when everything was done, she'd be able to  
return to America without anyone knowing she was gone.  
  
She wasn't AWOL, exactly- after all, one of her perpetually ongoing  
assignments was to track the movements of Shaft Security Services, evaluate  
their performance, and investigate them for illegal activities at home or  
abroad. Three-S had suddenly positioned a full detachment of it's forces  
in this harbor, and officially (if she had to give an official reason), she  
was here to look them over. And if it turned out that she was on hand to  
help out an old friend who was in a bit of legal trouble- unofficially- so  
much the better.  
  
She'd seen the ship as it was coming in, and knew she'd recognized it from  
somewhere. It wasn't until the two labors rose out of it that she  
remembered where, though.  
  
"The Griffin!" she gasped in surprise. And not just the Griffin, either,  
she realized, but Alphonse as well. "What are THEY doing here- TOGETHER?"  
she asked herself aloud. Had Asuma gone over to Shaft in the hopes that  
they'd find a way to keep him safe? If so, why was Noa involved- surely  
she wouldn't agree to something like that willingly. Well, she might if  
they promised to keep Alphonse intact for her... but still, that didn't  
seem in character for either of them. Neither did murder, for that matter.  
  
Well, Kanuka knew better than to intervene before she knew what was going  
on. She settled into her hiding place to watch the proceedings just as  
Alphonse and the Griffin leapt down off of the tanker and onto the dock.  
  
The Abrahams approached Alphonse and the Ingram tentatively, and then the  
labors met...  
  
*****  
  
  
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	5. Part 5

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"Noa," Asuma ordered through the microphone. The eight labors he was  
paying attention to were still in a standoff, and he was still unsure  
whether the Rumbler was going to intervene. He hoped he could get  
everything done before it did anything, but he knew that was unlikely.   
However, until he knew which side it might come in on, he had to pay  
attention to the more immediate dangers. "Draw your gun, and get ready to  
use it. It won't do anything significant to those Brochens, but you might  
be able to disable an Abraham with it."  
  
"Roger," Noa acknowledged, directing Alphonse to draw its revolver. She  
wasn't even going to argue for the preservation of the Abrahams- if it  
stood in the way of her clearing Asuma's name, she'd get rid of it.  
  
"Mr. Utsumi, sir," a young messenger said, running up to the man.  
  
"Yes, Mr. Iguchi?" Utsumi said to the man, pulling away from Takeo. Iguchi  
whispered a few words into his ear, and his smile grew devilish. "He is?   
Well, welcome him aboard and escort him here! We shouldn't leave him out  
of the party. After all, everyone ELSE has a representative here... well,  
everyone but that American labor."  
  
The messenger nodded, running off.  
  
"Who's coming?" Takeo asked curiously.  
  
"An old friend," Wong replied. "Who also has a stake in this coming  
battle, if I don't miss my guess."  
  
"You're being evasive," Takeo clucked.  
  
"I just don't want to spoil the surprise!" he laughed.  
  
Asuma, standing just within hearing range, glared at him. "Uh huh... why  
do I get the feeling we won't LIKE this surprise?"  
  
"Surprise?" Noa asked, not able to tell he was talking to Utsumi through  
the microphone. "What surprise?"  
  
"A friend of Utsumi's is coming aboard," Asuma explained. "I don't like  
it. In fact, if a battle's going to take place, I'd rather it started  
before he got here. Move in, but take no hostile action until they do."  
  
"Roger," Noa replied, and Alphonse started marching into the line of  
labors. A Brochen moved to step in her way, so she tried to turn and avoid  
it, only to be cut off by the other one.  
  
"We're being surrounded, Sis," Bud said through the Griffin's speakers.   
When he spoke, Wong snapped his fingers.  
  
"I almost forgot AGAIN! Hold on a moment," he said, dashing into the  
control cabin briefly.  
  
While he was away, the Brochen behind Alphonse started closing in. "Noa!   
Look out!" Asuma cried.  
  
Before Noa could react, the Brochen launched an attack, striking out with  
its fist with the intention of punching a whole through the patlabor. The  
Griffin intercepted the blow, deflecting it with a quick forearm and  
shoving the military labor back several steps. As the Griffin started  
moving into action, a sound sprang forth from the speaker.  
  
"Music?" Asuma said curiously.  
  
"Wagner," Utsumi explained, emerging from the office. "We put the speakers  
on the thing just so it could play Wagner when it moved. We hadn't done  
that until just now."  
  
"The Flying Dutchman?" Takeo said, curiously. "Knowing you, I'd have  
expected the Rings of the Nieberlung."  
  
"Let's just say that if things don't turn out well in this action, I have a  
feeling we'll be stuck at sea for a very long time," he explained.  
  
"Why is that?" Takeo asked.  
  
"Because," a new voice answered. "He knows that if Shaft survives this  
little encounter, he won't be able to survive going anywhere Shaft has  
offices. And Shaft has offices all over the world.  
  
"Ah! Mr. Kurosaki!" Wong chirped. "I was wondering how long it would take  
for you to get here."  
  
Kurosaki, the man who had once posed as the chief negotiator for Holly  
Security Systems, and who had one point been Utsumi's right hand man,  
approached the gathering of people on the deck, escorted by Iguchi. "I  
must thank you for this opportunity to be your replacement, sir."  
  
Utsumi laughed. "You're only my replacement if there's a company to make  
you one, Mr. Kurosaki. I don't think there will be one when this is all  
over."  
  
"Only if you win, Utsumi. And I don't believe that's going to happen...."  
  
"You don't think so?" Utsumi said, turning his attention back on the fight.  
"Why not?"  
  
The forces had squared off. Alphonse, instead of being surrounded, was now  
confidently facing both Brochens, which appeared to be slightly scuffed  
from prior action. Meanwhile, Shaft Security Systems' four Abrahams had  
encircled the Griffin, mimicking the former battle the two sides had  
engaged in on the Babylon Gates. One of the Abrahams attacked, but the  
attack was quickly countered by a shoulder throw into two of its  
companions.  
  
"If you're going to beat us," Takeo noted, "I don't think it will be with  
these labors."  
  
*****  
  
Kanuka watched the initial hostilities break out, and quickly realized that  
Asuma had come here to find something important. For some reason, he had  
formed an alliance with Utsumi to get it, too.  
  
And Shaft Security Systems was trying to stop him.  
  
Since she was investigating to see if the 3-S was involved in ANY illegal  
activities, she had to know just what it was they were so anxious to  
protect. And if, while doing so, she could find what Asuma was desperately  
searching for, well, she wouldn't have any objection. And, considering all  
of the fighting going on, it was unlikely anyone would notice her for a  
while.  
  
She started to move her Rumbler out, and got about halfway to the warehouse  
before her sensors picked up movement on her right flank.   
'Reinforcements!' she thought worriedly. Quickly, she found cover and  
waited until they passed, drawing her firearm just in case.  
  
When the two type Zeros and the Ingram passed by her, she realized that the  
new arrivals weren't exactly reinforcements after all.  
  
*****  
  
Gomioka whistled in amazement as he took in the scene. He'd seen plenty of  
combat in his labor, but this was the most high-powered battle he'd yet  
seen. One Ingram- Alphonse, perhaps the best produced Ingram ever,  
considering how fine-tuned the mechanics squad had been able to make it-  
two Brochens, four Abrahams, and, to top it all off, the god-damned GRIFFIN  
were engaged in heavy combat not more than a hundred yards from his  
position. And it was his duty to get in the middle of that fight.  
  
He couldn't quite tell who was on who's side- though it seemed that the  
Ingram and the Griffin were trying to work together. He didn't know who's  
side he should go in on, either- the Ingram was piloted by an AWOL police  
officer, but her apparent ally was one of the greatest criminal labor  
pilots in Japanese history. Shaft owned the Abrahams and the Griffins, and  
most people in the police thought of Shaft as being little more than a  
business Yakuza, but this WAS their property and they did have the right to  
defend it. And, for all he knew, the Griffin was a part of Shaft, too, so  
didn't it have as much right to be here as Shaft Security Systems? Though,  
now that he thought about it, Shaft had disavowed any knowledge of the  
Griffin when they'd been questioned about it.  
  
"Traitor!" Ohta roared over the radio, and charged in toward the Ingram  
and, since they happened to be in that direction, too, the two Brochens.   
One of the two military labors turned from Alphonse to face him down.  
  
Well, that settled it, in Gomioka's mind. Obviously, Ohta was out for  
Noa's blood, and he couldn't calm him down. He wasn't sure he SHOULD calm  
him down at this point, anyway. Instead, he had to act... and since the  
Brochen was a known enemy, the Griffin was, at least at one time, a bitter  
enemy, and the Ingram was going to be an enemy whatever he decided, maybe  
he should just take all of the labors down and sort it out afterwards.  
  
*****  
  
"Uh, oh," Wong frowned. "Looks like your friends from the SV2 have arrived  
earlier than I expected."  
  
"Doesn't change anything," Asuma said, directing his voice away from the  
microphone to make sure he did not distract Noa. His eyes did not leave  
the battle, however. "I was hoping they'd get here before the fight was  
over, myself."  
  
"Yes," Wong said distractedly, fumbling with a radio microphone of his own.  
"But I should make sure we don't hurt them too badly. Bud?"  
  
A crackle of static came over the speaker on Utsumi's radio. "Yes?"  
  
"A few new labors from Special Vehicles have shown up on the scene. Please  
try to remember we're working WITH the police this time, not against them.   
They just don't know it yet."  
  
"What if they attack me?" Bud's voice asked.  
  
Wong thought about that for a few seconds, and witnessed the Griffin  
deliver a powerful blow which shattered the chassis of one of the Abrahams.  
Two of the others were slightly damaged, but still battle capable. A  
third had yet to actively enter the fight. And, it seemed, the two Type  
Zeros were closing in.  
  
"If they attack you, just be sure you don't hurt them any more than you  
have to in order to survive. We want them happy, remember."  
  
*****  
  
Noa was not a happy camper. The Brochens had not been trying to fight her,  
yet. Instead, they were driving her away from the Griffin, isolating her.   
Hoping, perhaps, to get her alone and finish her off quick.  
  
They got her a considerable distance away, though the Griffin was still  
visible in her line of sight, when one of the two labors broke off and  
engaged... another Ingram. Asuma's voice in her ear informed her that the  
SV2 had arrived, and was apparently going after everyone, and then she  
didn't have time to think any more because the Brochen finally made its  
move.  
  
Rapidly directing Alphonse to duck the blow to its head, she started  
thinking strategy. Drawing her electromagnetic baton, she charged through  
the attack and clipped the other labor in the torso, staggering it.   
Quickly pushing out Alphonse's foot, she hooked the Brochen's leg and sent  
it to the ground. Spinning the baton around, she pierced the metal armor  
of the military labor, disabling it.  
  
"Brochen one has been dispatched, Asuma. I'm currently out of the action-  
what should I do?"  
  
"Ohta seems to be taking care of the other Brochen for us- though I think  
it's unwillingly," Asuma's reassuring voice yelled out. "Helping him would  
only get us into even more trouble at the moment. Why don't you help Bud  
out? He's having problems trying to avoid the Zeros without hurting them."  
  
"Roger," she agreed. Retrieving her baton, she turned her attention  
towards the spot where the Griffin was still tangled with five labors.   
Just as she was about to run into the action, a powerful energy beam passed  
right in front of Alphonse, exploding the concrete not more than ten feet  
away. "Ack! What was that?!" Noa cried.  
  
*****  
  
"Where the hell did THAT come from?!" Asuma exclaimed, echoing Noa's  
sentiments.  
  
Kurosaki stepped over to Wong. "Well, I kind of agree with your friends.   
I don't think two Brochens and four Abrahams would be enough to handle the  
Griffin and the Ingram. So, when we saw that the Sangria was coming into  
port, I brought along a couple of experimentals which may be a bit more of  
a challenge. Meet the SRX-71 and the SRX-72. A hybrid, if you will, of  
the technology behind the Griffin, the Saturn, and the Phantom."  
  
On the battlefield, a pair of labors, both reminiscent of the SR-70  
Saturns, appeared from behind a large set of crates.  
  
Utsumi stepped back, slightly startled. "A hybrid?"  
  
Kurosaki nodded. "Like I said, thank you for giving me your job. You're  
too much of a loose cannon, so I was appointed to replace you in the  
military labor research section by the Division Manager. I took those  
lessons we learned from you all too well."  
  
Utsumi frowned. "I thought we determined that hand-to-hand was the way to  
go."  
  
"That we did," Kurosaki agreed. "But that philosophy gave us the same  
results as the heavy weapons of the Phantom did. No, in the end I realized  
it wasn't the weapons that was the problem with the earlier version, it was  
the lack of speed and maneuverability. What good is a weapon if you can't  
use it? The Saturns were maneuverable enough, especially when enhanced by  
the Griffin technological developments, but really were underpowered-  
especially to handle all the technology we included on the Phantom project.  
So we developed two variants, pulling in the technology you developed in  
the Griffin project. We replaced the weapons ports for the firearms with  
the power generation and distribution nodules from the Griffin, and  
miniaturized the weapons of the Phantom project, placing them in the  
electromagnetic combat knife storage system slot. In the SRX-71, you have  
the Plasma Cannon. In the SRX-72, you have the Electromagnetic Pulse  
Generator. The results, well... we'll see in this action how effective the  
results are, won't we?"  
  
Takeo frowned. "Why are you telling us all of this?"  
  
Kurosaki laughed. "Because it doesn't matter. All we want is to see how  
these labors do when facing the Ingram and the Griffin. By the time this  
battle is over, anything you might have been coming here looking for will  
be long gone."  
  
As Asuma frantically relayed this information over to Noa, Richard Wong  
looked at Takeo with an expression only she would know meant he was  
worried.  
  
*****  
  
Kanuka heard the explosion behind her- a sound which reminded her of a  
certain snowy night almost a year beforehand- and shuddered. It sounded as  
though something more powerful than she'd thought Shaft had available at  
the time. She couldn't worry about it right then, though- her job was to  
find out what Shaft was hiding in that warehouse. Then, if it was as  
incriminating as she'd hoped, maybe she could join the fight and not get  
into TOO much trouble when she got back to the States. Besides, it was  
entirely possible that finding whatever it was that Noa and Asuma were  
looking for would be the best help they could get.  
  
Hoping the battle would be enough of a distraction that she could get into  
the warehouse unobserved, Kanuka moved out from her hiding place and  
started running in as fast as her labor could travel. Reaching the  
warehouse's loading dock, she pried the door open.  
  
To her surprise, there was a lot of activity going on in the building.   
Dozens of people were running around, taking what looked like labor parts  
and loading them into a truck as fast as they could. Additionally, one  
group of people was carrying something quite familiar to Kanuka. A police  
labor revolver.  
  
Putting two and two together, Kanuka quickly realized what was going on.   
The labor parts being loaded weren't labor parts at all, but a labor shell  
which could be adapted as a disguise, making any labor look like a  
patlabor- likely an Ingram, from the shape and color, though Kanuka  
couldn't tell the make for certain in as many pieces as it was. The  
revolver, obviously, was the murder weapon used to kill Asuma's father.  
  
The evidence. Shaft was trying to get the evidence of their guilt out of  
the area as fast as they could, hoping to avoid discovery by the police.   
Well, they had been discovered. And Kanuka was angry.  
  
"This is Interpol. I am using the authority granted me by international  
treaty to put you ALL under arrest!" People started scrambling away,  
until Kanuka drew her gun. "FREEZE!" Everyone stopped- no-one was willing  
to chance a labor with a gun. With this evidence secured, Asuma's name  
would be cleared.  
  
The question was, though, how she could keep it secure if she needed to run  
out and save Noa from whatever those two mystery labors were?  
  
*****  
  
Bud Reynard directed the Griffin to rip the arm off of the labor he'd just  
dispatched. Pivoting and thrusting out with the metallic limb, he pierced  
the armor of the final Abraham, knocking it out of commission permanently.   
Level one was complete.  
  
He observed the rest of the field. Noa was having difficulty with the new  
labors- she seemed to be on the run, mostly, unable to spend the time to  
draw her gun or move in for fear of being struck by one of the weapons. He  
started to move in to aid her, but the two Zeros cut in front of him. He  
could easily pass through them, but not without causing them severe damage.  
  
The other Ingram, however, which was also in serious trouble from the  
Brochen it was facing, could probably be helped without too much  
difficulty. Charging in from behind, he struck out. The Brochen was  
heavily armored, but the hands of the Griffin were designed to pierce any  
labor armor yet designed and Bud was intimately familiar with its layout.   
Piercing the back of the military labor across its 'spine,' he ripped out  
the power supply- both battery and connectors- before it had a chance to  
react.  
  
He could see Noa in desperate need of assistance. She was running out of  
room to run, and she still couldn't move in on her opponents. She needed a  
distraction, at least. Now that he'd rescued the Ingram and left the  
Zero's behind, maybe he could give her that distraction.  
  
He didn't count on the Ingram not being as grateful as he'd hoped it would.  
Before he could move into action, a metal fist backhanded the Griffin,  
knocking it back into the charging Zeros, damaging an elbow joint in the  
process. While the Ingram charged off in Noa's direction, Bud found his  
attention taken by the two other police labors.  
  
As he watched the Ingram run off, he shook his head. "Ingrate," he  
snarled, before trying to find a way of evading the two Zeros with a  
damaged arm.  
  
*****  
  
Ohta ignored the Griffin. It, too, was a criminal, but the Zeros could  
deal with it now. Batting it out of his way, he turned to once more run  
after the traitor. There was an explosion a few feet away from his labor's  
legs, but he didn't care. Sure, once he'd dealt with the traitor, he could  
take care of the other criminals around here, but the traitor was the  
number one priority.  
  
He ran up and grappled with her, catching her unawares. Apparently, the  
other criminals were too much of a distraction for her, and so he was able  
to surprise her with his attack.  
  
His headset crackled to life. "OHTA!" Noa's outraged voice broke in  
through the speakers. "ARE YOU INSANE? DO YOU WANT US BOTH KILLED?" she  
shrieked.  
  
"Quit begging for mercy, traitor- you won't get it!" Ohta snarled. HE was  
the betrayed one- she had no right to feel outraged.  
  
"Ohta, you idiot!" Asuma's voice intervened. Ohta's eyes widened- so the  
murderous criminal mastermind was somewhere nearby. "In case you hadn't  
notice, you're being shot at by the same energy weapon which sliced the arm  
off your labor about a year ago. If you don't start paying attention to  
what you're-"  
  
"SHUT UP, MURDERER!" Ohta screamed. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY ANYTHING TO  
ME!"  
  
"Stubborn, pigheaded, obsessive idiot," he heard being muttered, then some  
shuffling, as if the headset was being given over to someone else.  
  
"Ohta, this is Lieutenant Takeo! Listen up!"  
  
Even though she couldn't see him, he snapped to a seated attention. "Yes,  
SIR!"  
  
"Noa is by no means a traitor. Maybe a little hot-headed in this case, but  
you're ALWAYS a little hot-headed."  
  
"Wha-" he started to reply. He hadn't ever heard Takeo talk to him this  
way, before.  
  
"We have reason to believe that Shaft Enterprises murdered Asuma's father,  
framed him for the crime, and had made sure he would be assassinated while  
in prison. Noa's breaking him out saved his life."  
  
"But-"  
  
"You will release Noa at once and turn your attention to the two labors  
currently FIRING on you."  
  
"Where's your evidence of this so called 'frame up?'" Ohta growled out, no  
longer willing to trust his superior officer.  
  
"We have the testimony of Mr. Richard Wong-"  
  
"YOU BELIEVE THE MAN WHO HAD YOU SHOT!?"  
  
"Oh, damn- the hybrids are closing in," Ohta heard Asuma say distantly.   
"Give me the headset- I've gotta warn Noa..."  
  
Ohta couldn't make out the rest of what was being said because suddenly  
another radio transmission broke in. "Ohta, obey your superior officer.   
And if you want to know about the evidence, I'm standing in a warehouse  
full of it. See if you can't get some of your command car officers over  
here, now. You guys are going to need me, and if I leave here now all the  
evidence is going to disappear."  
  
"Kanuka?! What are you doing here? What evidence?"  
  
"I'm here investigating Shaft Security Systems for Interpol, and I'm  
breaking radio silence to tell you what an idiot you're being! You want  
evidence? How about if I said I found a fake labor shell, the murder  
weapon, and, well, I just got a full confession from the pilot of the labor  
which actually shot Mr. Shinohara."  
  
Ohta blinked. "Are you... sure?"  
  
"DAMMIT, OHTA!" Noa screamed in. "LET ME GO OR WE'LL BOTH BE DEAD!"  
  
Ohta suddenly realized what was going on. Here he was, grappling with a  
fellow cop, when all the REAL criminals were over there, shooting at him.   
He released his grip on Alphonse, and turned towards the two hybrid labors.  
"Attention, criminals," he announced through the speakers, stepping in  
front of Noa and drawing his gun. "You are under arrest! This is your  
only warning- leave your labors at once and you will not be harmed, but if  
you try me-"  
  
The flash of the electro-magnetic pulse striking his labor and scrambling  
every electronic system in it stopped him before he could finish. The  
other hybrid sliced off the arms, legs, and heads, quickly taking him out  
of the action.  
  
*****  
  
Kanuka was grateful to see Shinshi and Hiromi show up and take  
responsibility for the people in the warehouse. The confession of the  
murderer was an unexpected surprise- apparently, he had been feeling  
increasingly remorseful for his actions, and her seizing the evidence gave  
him the opportunity to accept the responsibility for his crime. Kanuka was  
quick to get it in writing, and then turned her attention back to the  
battle, with the hopes of finding someone to relieve her- or hopefully to  
find that she wasn't needed in the fight at all.  
  
Ever since she'd seen Ohta damn near get all of them killed, she'd been  
getting more and more impatient to get involved. Thankfully, Ohta hadn't  
succeeded in letting the hybrids take Noa out, for when he stepped in  
between Noa and the two other labors he'd shielded her from their weapons.   
Noa was able to use that to her advantage, and once more move out of range  
and escape. She was still in a bad way, however- she needed someone to  
distract her opponents badly. Now that Hiromi and Shinshi were here, she  
could do something. She'd already broken radio silence, so there was no  
reason she couldn't move actively any more. Time to strike.  
  
Using her gun was a bad idea- it would attract their attention, yes, but  
she'd be in the same situation as Noa and they'd be alert to a similar  
attempt. No, she had to close in and attack. The Rumbler probably wasn't  
good enough to take on both simultaneously, but she should be able to  
distract them and then get away before they could eliminate her.  
  
But get away to where? To run to Noa for support? Or... to lead them away  
from Noa?  
  
*****  
  
Noa hated running like this, but Asuma was right. It was impossible to  
close in on both of them without being cut to pieces. If there was just  
ONE, she might be able to zigzag in close enough for hand-to-hand, but with  
both of them able to do significant damage to her if their weapons hit, it  
was impossible. She needed support, and she just wasn't getting it.  
  
She'd have to do something sometime soon, though. Her batteries had been  
under a heavy drain since the battle started, and she had no idea how long  
they'd last at this pace. Furthermore, she was being driven into a corner.  
And when they cornered her, it was only a matter of time...  
  
A flash of yellow appeared behind the two hybrids, and a bar of metal  
flashed up and struck at both of them. Noa saw that one of them- the one  
with the EMP weapon, she thought- received some hip damage, which would  
slow it some. The yellow labor, which she realized was the American labor  
Asuma had told her about, quickly turned and sped off, taking the other  
labor with it in pursuit.  
  
Noa's face hardened into a much more determined grimace. It was one on  
one, now. She shouldn't have been so defeatist in the first place- she  
knew she had at least one ally out there in the Griffin, and now it looked  
like she had more than one willing to help her. It was time for her to  
move in and seize control of this whole mess.  
  
*****  
  
Bud grimaced, glancing at the damage control monitors for the Griffin. The  
Zeros had been concentrating on his damaged arm, and by now it was  
completely useless. Without it, he wasn't sure he could beat both of the  
Zeros at once even if he COULD fight back against them. It appeared as  
though they had realized Noa was still on their side, but had yet to  
recognize that he wasn't against them, either. They still weren't doing  
anything to help Noa, though, and until he got past them there was nothing  
he could do.  
  
Risking a glance in her direction, just to make sure she was still in the  
action, he saw to his surprise that she was charging in against one of the  
hybrids. He didn't see the other one- it didn't seem as though Noa could  
have done anything, and that other Ingram had been sliced and diced  
already, so its disappearance worried him. Where was it? Where had it  
gone?  
  
He was answered when a yellow labor- probably the Rumbler that he'd heard  
Wong mentioning- came running between him and the two Zeros, being chased  
by the other hybrid. The energy beams emerging from the hybrid's arm that  
appeared aimed at every one of them convinced the Zeros that they might be  
better off ignoring him for a while to deal with this aggressor. It was  
the break he needed to step back and try and make stop-gap repairs to the  
Griffin.  
  
The arm was a total loss. He just ejected it, hoping to reduce the drain  
on his systems. Additionally, there was some damage to his sensors that he  
had to lock down, and one leg was sluggish for no reason he could tell.  
  
The Rumbler was dealt the price of leading the hybrid into the other three  
labors, having its legs cut out from underneath it by the energy cannon.   
The Zeros were moving in to fight the thing, but already Bud could see  
their strategy was futile. He had to hurry and lock down the damage before  
something serious happened.  
  
One Zero was behind the hybrid, trying to move in close. The other was  
trying to distract it from the front, but wasn't able to give a very long  
distraction. The energy blasts came too quickly, and soon the first Zero  
was down.  
  
The Zero behind the hybrid was actually able to engage in a little bit of  
hand-to-hand. Unfortunately, most of that hand-to-hand was the hybrid  
applying damaging force to the Zero. An elbow to the head destroying all  
of the sensors in the patlabor was the first blow, and a karate chop  
severing both legs was the last. Bud, repairs finally completed, knew that  
he'd have his hands full. Especially with just one arm.  
  
Charging in just as the music on his speakers changed from the overture to  
The Flying Dutchman into the Ride of the Valkyries, Bud struck out with a  
piercing spear-hand. The hybrid backed off faster than he had been  
expecting, and the Griffin overbalanced. Still, his attack managed to  
strike the knee, giving the hybrid a limp. Bud nevertheless knew the fight  
was over even before he heard the plasma weapon pierce his armor, severing  
the power supply from the rest of his labor.  
  
The monitors went out, and a huge explosion in the distance signaled that  
something had happened in Noa's battle. As things went black, Bud closed  
his eyes.  
  
"Good luck, sis," he prayed.  
  
The speakers, running on a separate power supply, continued to play on in  
reply.  
  
*****  
  
"Asuma," Noa said, dodging a punch as she tried to hold the electromagnetic  
pulse weapon away from her. "Power's running down fast, and this guy is  
moving like the Griffin. I'm in serious trouble."  
  
"Try to draw your baton," Asuma's voice chimed in. "It'll make whatever  
attacks you get in that much more powerful. And step closer in- it may  
move as fast as the Griffin, but I'm pretty sure it's not as strong and  
you'd have the advantage if you get close enough to negate his  
maneuverability."  
  
"Roger," Noa acknowledged, taking a moment to draw her baton. It was a  
moment she could ill-afford, however, because by the time it was out the  
other labor had its weapon trained on her. "Shit!" she cried, reacting as  
best she could- stepping in and striking out with as much force as she  
could muster. Simultaneously, the pulse went off. Alphonse's computer  
systems went haywire, and for a moment she feared she'd failed... until she  
heard the sound of the baton, running on an internal power supply,  
directing a disabling EMP of its own through the other labor. Maybe she'd  
won.  
  
"Asuma, I think we got each other at the same time. Anything I can do?"  
  
*****  
  
"Try shutting down all of your systems and performing a complete reboot,"  
Asuma suggested through the radio. "That worked with Ohta's labor last  
time."  
  
Kurosaki, looking through the binoculars, cursed. "Shit."  
  
"What?" Takeo asked, her eyes burning into the man. She was starting to  
hate him.  
  
"Your Ingram out there just pierced the hybrid at a very vulnerable spot."  
  
"Oh, is that all?" Takeo said.  
  
"No, it isn't," Kurosaki added. "That spot just happens to be vulnerable  
because it's the location of the explosives for the labor's self-destruct  
mechanism. Usually, it wouldn't matter, but since that Ingram's weapon  
just happens to be sending a continual electrical charge through that  
system, I'm wondering how long it will take for the self-destruct system to  
accidentally engage."  
  
Asuma, who hadn't been paying any attention until he heard the words  
'self-destruct mechanism,' looked at him in shock, his eyes widening.   
"Noa!" he cried. "Forget the shutdown- just strap yourself in and brace-"  
  
The explosion was harsh enough to temporarily blind everyone on the deck of  
the Sangria. "NOAAAA!" Asuma cried, his voice barely heard over the din.  
  
Takeo and Wong were blinking and rubbing their eyes, hoping to see better  
what had happened on the shore. "Hell," Wong muttered, barely able to make  
out the burning wreckage.  
  
"Noa, come in!" Asuma shouted furiously. All he could see was the bonfire  
in the middle of the dockyard. "Noa, do you read me?" he said desperately.  
  
"Where's Alphonse?" Takeo asked, her eyes clearing up. "I only see the  
wreckage of one labor."  
  
Utsumi scanned the dockyard, finally spotting the Ingram. "Over there-  
looks like it was knock almost fifty feet away. Just how powerful an  
explosive did you think you NEEDED, Kurosaki," he growled, annoyance  
finally showing in his voice.  
  
"The charge in the Griffin was insufficient, last time," Kurosaki noted.   
"There was some material that the police were able to salvage for study."  
  
"NOA! COME IN!" Asuma screamed.  
  
Takeo looked at him sadly, then glanced at Wong. He returned her gaze,  
nodding slightly. Sighing, she approached the upset young man, raising a  
hand to gently put it on his shoulder. "Asuma, maybe..."  
  
"Noa, is that you!?" he said, an almost reverent whisper in his voice.  
  
Takeo blinked, leaning in to see if she could hear what was being said.   
"A...su...ma," she heard. "...love... you."  
  
"NOA!" he shouted. Glancing out to the battlefield, he could see that the  
other hybrid was limping over in the direction of the fallen Alphonse.   
"Dammit," he snarled. "Noa, hold on- I'll be right there!"  
  
Ignoring the others, he leapt over the side of the boat. Takeo, taken by  
surprise, reached out just as he cleared the fence, but just missed  
catching him by the back of his shirt. She closed her eyes, not wanting to  
see him, in his sanity-depriving fear, fall to his death.  
  
She heard no splat of his body hitting the concrete, however, nor a splash  
from falling into the water. "Resourceful lad, isn't he?" Wong said.  
  
Re-opening her eyes, Takeo saw Asuma clinging to a line between the boat  
and the shore, probably burning the skin off his hands as he slid down it  
to the shore. Giving out a huge sigh of relief, she turned to Utsumi and  
smiled slightly. "Determined, more likely. He's quite attached to that  
girl, even if he didn't realize it until recently."  
  
Wong sighed, grasping her hand lightly. "I wanted to go back... when my  
security man shot you. I REALLY did. I do love you, you know- I never  
stopped."  
  
"I know," Takeo said, rubbing his hand with her thumb. "Let's just hope  
their story turns out better than ours has, so far."  
  
Glancing over at the limp Alphonse, he nodded. "Let's hope they still have  
that chance."  
  
Kurosaki, however, had a different opinion. "Bah... that boy should have  
learned long ago not to let his personal feelings get in the way of getting  
the job done. He'd have been better off trying to contact the command  
officers and getting them to investigate."  
  
Wong's expression went cold. Takeo blinked- she hadn't seen him get that  
angry very often, and was shocked that the comment Kurosaki made was what  
triggered it. When Richard started speaking, however, she understood.  
  
"Is that so? I did the sensible thing, going against my heart, years ago.   
I've regretted it ever since. I damn near lost the woman I loved more than  
anything in my life," he snarled. "And I'm damn lucky I got her back. You  
want to know why I'm really here, Kurosaki? Asuma just couldn't believe I  
was doing this to help him. And you know what? He was right. I was  
willing to help him hide, but I probably wouldn't have done any real  
investigating if I hadn't run into Takeo here. My job was SUPPOSED to be  
to get rid of any evidence of Noa and Asuma's whereabouts... but I thought  
it was much more important to try and get Takeo back into my life. And I  
decided that, if that meant losing the Griffin, my position in Shaft, and  
everything else I held dear, well, it would be worth it. And, so, to get  
her back, I decided to get Asuma off the hook, using my inside sources.   
And I don't regret it one bit."  
  
Takeo looked at him, a little shocked. "I'd hoped you were actually  
reforming," she said.  
  
He looked at her, half-smiling. "I have. After all, this time, I decided  
to act on my heart for you. Last time... my heart told me not to leave  
you, last time, you know. I didn't listen to it, then."  
  
"And you have, now?"  
  
Wong's smile widened. "Well, I'm still working on it. I've been using  
both my heart and my head, now. But I think I'm starting to trust my heart  
just a LITTLE bit more."  
  
Takeo said nothing, and turned to look out at where Asuma was climbing up  
the shell of Alphonse. She desperately hoped that nothing had happened to  
Noa. If Asuma and Noa didn't come out of this alive, intact, and  
together... well, she feared that what little progress she'd made on Wong  
would be gone forever. After all, why listen to his heart when all it did  
was result in the death of his friends?  
  
While she and Utsumi were busy sorting out their feelings, Kurosaki saw  
that it was probably the only chance he would have to leave...  
  
*****  
  
Asuma opened the hatch manually, scrambling madly in his panic. Noa HAD to  
be all right- she just HAD to. He'd lost everyone else in his life- his  
mother, his brother, his father... all had died. All had died suddenly.   
And now, Noa... Noa couldn't be dead, could she? She just had to be  
alive...  
  
He stepped into the cockpit, and there she was. Blood was pouring from all  
over, where glass shards from several monitors exploding had pierced her.   
One arm was bent oddly, probably broken. She was quite plainly badly hurt-  
the question was whether she was even alive.  
  
Quickly, he fumbled for a pulse. Desperately, he felt her neck... and felt  
nothing. No- it couldn't be. She was dead. She was DEAD!  
  
Unable to deal with it all, he collapsed to the floor, tears running down  
his cheeks. Everything he had was gone. What did it all matter, any more?  
  
*****  
  
Takeo saw that the remaining hybrid had finally found where the explosion  
had thrown the stunned Alphonse. She sighed, and glanced over at Wong.  
  
"Richard... is there some way you can tune your communications equipment  
into the same frequency of Asuma's headset? If he gets Alphonse running  
again, he's going to need a command officer- I doubt the sensor equipment  
will have survived all of that."  
  
Wong frowned, observing the situation. "How long does it take to shut down  
and complete a reboot in an Ingram?"  
  
Takeo frowned. "An average time of around five minutes, if things work  
right, why?"  
  
"Then do you have another suggestion for someone to call? He doesn't have  
time to reboot before the other hybrid strikes."  
  
Takeo looked at the scene again. "Well... it won. It's not going to  
attack any more, is it?"  
  
Wong sighed. "Takeo... the only reason the Phantom and the Griffin never  
killed anyone is because I didn't let Shaft talk me into the same 'leave no  
witnesses' policy that got you shot. If it closes in on Alphonse... both  
Noa and Asuma won't be allowed to live."  
  
*****  
  
"Asuma?" a voice weakly said.  
  
He twitched. Was that her ghost? Was she trying to communicate with him  
from beyond the grave?  
  
"Asuma!" her pained voice cried. That sounded too real. Maybe she was  
going to haunt him- it was HIS bad advice that lead to the explosion which  
killed her, anyway.  
  
A weak hand touched his face, and he looked up. Noa's eyes were open. She  
was actually alive? "Noa?" he whispered, wonder in his voice.  
  
"Asuma..." she croaked again, then faded out. He checked, and found she  
was still breathing after all.  
  
"Heh... well, I didn't do well in the field medic class at the Academy," he  
mumbled to himself, pulling out the labor's first aid kit and doing what he  
could to help her. There wasn't much, though, because he didn't want to  
make the glass splinters in her body get any worse. "Let's get Alphonse's  
reboot restarted, and then see what we can do to fix you up while that's  
going, okay love?" he muttered to her, not caring that she probably  
couldn't hear it.  
  
He ejected Alphonse's movement disk just in case there was a problem, and  
began powering the labor back up. Thirty seconds later, just before he was  
about to put the disk back in, a message flashed up on the only intact  
screen in the labor.  
  
"Insufficient power. Low Battery. Please replace or recharge battery  
before continuing start-up sequence."  
  
Asuma cursed. "Hell," he said. "We're sitting ducks, Noa. We have to  
abandon him. We'll come back for him, though, I promise," he said. He  
unhooked the one strap she was wearing- a shoulder strap which dislocated  
her arm by probably saved her life. Glancing around for anything he could  
salvage, all he saw was the emergency shotgun (used to keep people from  
trying to enter the cabin unwanted, and as a back-up defense in case the  
battery died) and the spent first aid kit. Grabbing the gun, he strapped  
it to his back, knowing it was probably useless in his situation and had  
only three shots if it came down to that. Re-opening the hatch, he gently  
picked Noa up, cradling her to his chest, and left the wreckage. Slowly,  
he made his way back to the ground, being careful not to jostle his  
precious cargo.  
  
On the ground, he glanced around, assessing the situation. The other  
hybrid, limping badly, was making its way over to Alphonse. Asuma walked  
off as quickly as he dared, knowing that the modus operandi of Shaft would  
dictate it concentrate on the Ingram and leave the people alone. Noa could  
kill him for abandoning Alphonse, later- her life was more important.  
  
He was about sixty paces away from the fallen patlabor when he noticed the  
hybrid was no longer targeting Alphonse. Instead, it seemed to be  
following... him.  
  
"Murderers," he spat, breaking into a run.  
  
*****  
  
Kanuka applied a little disinfectant to a nasty-looking cut on Gomioka's  
shoulder. He hissed slightly as the contact burned away any infection, but  
Kanuka continued her treatment. Over his shoulder, Kanuka could see where  
Ohta was bent over, giving the pilot of the other Zero a better angle to  
draw a small piece of shrapnel from his shoulder.  
  
Gomioka frowned. "Just what is that labor doing?"  
  
Kanuka looked up from her ministrations over to where the hybrid was  
continuing to pursue Asuma, who was cradling an apparently wounded Noa in  
his arms. "I have no idea... I don't think they would-"  
  
"Oh, I think Mr. Kurosaki was ordered that there be no mercy shown," an  
unexpected voice broke in. "The labor is going to try and kill them. And  
when it's done with him, it'll come after us."  
  
"WHAT?!" Ohta snarled.  
  
"I'm afraid he's probably telling the truth," another voice said. This  
one, they all recognized- Takeo.  
  
"Then what are we staying around here, for?" the officer treating Ohta said  
in surprise.  
  
"Where would we go?" the man who they had yet to recognize said. "We can't  
leave the dockyard fast enough on foot, my ship isn't capable of getting  
underway in time to escape. And that plasma beam will mow us down if we  
try finding a car or something. No... we don't really have any options."  
  
"Sis will handle it," a boy, who Kanuka recognized as Bud Reynard, said  
with conviction. "She beat me."  
  
"Your 'sis' doesn't have a labor," Takeo noted. "And she's unconscious.   
Asuma is trying to carry her to safety, but he's in even worse shape than  
we are."  
  
"There must be something we can do," Gomioka said forcefully. "I will NOT  
just sit here and die."  
  
"We can pick up one of the labor guns," Ohta suggested, "And fire it by  
hand. I've done it once, when I had Hiromi to help me..."  
  
"I don't think we can kill it with one shot," Kanuka said. "Takeo, am I  
right in assuming that man with you is Mr. Richard Wong?"  
  
Both Takeo and the man looked a little surprised. "Well... yes. He is."  
  
Kanuka nodded, unsurprised. The others, however, were startled- why was  
Takeo hanging around the man who had shot her? "Mr. Wong, I assume you DID  
come up with a back-up plan, some way to escape should this very situation  
arise?"  
  
"Escape? Not really," he said. "But, I wouldn't be surprised if my  
contingency plan will be here in time to protect us." Wong glanced over at  
the labor, still marching slowly towards Asuma- who had stopped running for  
some reason and was setting Noa down. "THEM, on the other hand..."  
  
*****  
  
"He's hobbled, but he's still moving a lot faster than I can while carrying  
you, Noa," Asuma said. She was still unconscious, but it felt better to  
talk to her. "And I'm really starting to tire out."  
  
He gently set her down, carefully laying her out so as to not aggravate her  
injuries. "I can't run any more, Noa. I don't know what I can do to stop  
him, but whatever happens I won't let him at you. I promise."  
  
Her eyes cracked open. "Don't lie," she whispered through pain-clenched  
teeth. Asuma's own eyes widened in surprise. "If he gets you, I don't  
care if he gets to me or not. So don't even try."  
  
Asuma couldn't look at her. "I won't let him kill you. Not you, too...  
they've already killed my father, you know? They killed my father... and  
now they're going after you. I can't let that happen." He pulled the  
shotgun off his shoulder. "I don't know whether this is supposed to be  
effective against that thing, but it HAS to work. We don't have anything  
else."  
  
"Asuma," Noa whispered, her eyes closing again. "I don't regret it. Any  
of it. I-"  
  
"Shh," he hushed her. "I know, Noa. I know. I feel the same way. Save  
your strength, love."  
  
He looked at the labor. It had stopped, and was raising its arm.   
Apparently, it had decided it didn't need to get any closer, and was going  
to vaporize them with the plasma cannon. He sighted the gun along the  
barrel. He was always a poor shot, but he didn't have a choice right now.   
He had to find a weak point, and hit it.  
  
But first, he had to get rid of that weapon.  
  
He could see that the weapon had him targeted. He could see the red glow  
of the gathering plasma. And he could tell he had already pulled the  
trigger without realizing it.  
  
With a massive explosion, the hybrid's arm became a ball of fire as the  
plasma containment system was breached.  
  
*****  
  
Ohta was amazed. "When did Shinohara get to be THAT good a shot?"  
  
"It wasn't a good shot," Gomioka said. "It was a lucky shot. There was no  
way he could have made a shot like that intentionally."  
  
Takeo hesitated. "I don't know about that... if it's important enough to a  
person, they can often do surprising things..."  
  
"Hush!" Wong commanded. "I think my contingency plan has arrived, but... I  
don't think this is over. Not yet."  
  
Everyone returned their attention to the hybrid, and saw he was right. The  
arm might have become a charred remnant of its former self, but the labor  
was still moving. And was moving towards Noa and Asuma, too.  
  
*****  
  
It took a few seconds for the shock of his very good shot to get over  
Asuma. Then he noticed that the hybrid had taken it in stride, and started  
walking over to them. Obviously, if it could vaporize them, it would try  
to squash them.  
  
He took aim and squeezed off a couple of other shots, but he really had no  
weak points he could target. They hit, but were utterly ineffective. And  
by now, it was too late.  
  
"Run!" Noa's pained voice shouted up at him. He looked down at her, into  
her tear-filled eyes. "I don't want you dead, too. Get out of here."  
  
Asuma huffed. "I won't leave you. And I can't carry you any more... it's  
over, Noa. It's over."  
  
Noa closed her eyes and sighed, gathering her strength. Finally, she  
slowly sat up. Her legs shuffled a bit as if she was trying to stand, but  
she was unsuccessful. Asuma's eyes widened and he knelt down to her side.   
Noa shook her head, grasping him in a powerful hug despite all the pain it  
must have caused her. "I can't get up, Asuma. Not right now... my legs  
won't work right. I'm sorry."  
  
Asuma found his own eyes were tearing up, as well, and he hugged her back.   
Maybe she was hurting, but it didn't matter. Just holding her was a great  
comfort... they'd be together when the end came. He wouldn't be alone....  
  
The shadow over his head signaled their doom. He clenched tighter, waiting  
for it to come.  
  
The large crunching sound he heard, however, was not that of his and Noa's  
bones being turned into powder by the weight of the hybrid. Instead, it  
sounded like metal crunching metal.  
  
He looked up, and saw, much to his surprise, that there was yet another  
Patlabor standing over them, protecting them. A Zero. It stepped past  
them, continuing it's attack on the wounded hybrid, as he watched in  
amazement. "Noa?" he whispered reverently.  
  
"Yes, Asuma?"  
  
"I think we made it."  
  
A few seconds later, a command car drove up right beside them, and two  
people stepped out. One of them was the slightly-pudgy Inspector Matsui,  
who's attention was on the labor battle. The hybrid was obviously losing,  
and it was only a matter of time.  
  
The other man was their one-time captain, Gotoh. "Well, you two," he said,  
smiling down on them. "Are you going to surrender, or will we have to add  
resisting arrest to your charges?"  
  
Asuma glared up at him, gathering his strength to once more pick Noa up.   
"Not now," he snapped, not caring what happened to him. "Noa needs a  
hospital. Get an ambulance here, now."  
  
Gotoh's smile quickly disappeared, and he ducked into the car to radio the  
hospital. Across the dockyard, the Zero piloted by Captain Shinobu  
finished tearing the hybrid to pieces.  
  
It was over.  
  
They had survived.  
  
*****  
  
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	6. Epilog

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Epilog:  
  
Slowly, Noa's eyes blinked open. There was Asuma, sitting over her, an  
expression of concern on his face. Her expression softened into a smile,  
and so did his. He started to lean over, almost as if in habit, when a  
loud throat-clearing from across the room startled them both.  
  
Noa looked over to see that Gotoh, Shinobu, Inspector Matsui, Takeo,  
Utsumi, Hiromi, and Kanuka Clancy were all in the room as well. Perhaps a  
nice wake-up kiss wouldn't be a good idea, after all. Besides, her mouth  
tasted funny, as though she hadn't brushed her teeth in a while.  
  
"How's Alphonse?" she croaked out, surprising herself with her own  
hoarseness.  
  
Asuma quickly raised a paper cup full of water to her lips as the others in  
the room tried to supress their laughter. To her surprise, she noticed  
handcuffs on his wrists. She drank, but as soon as she could, she said,  
"You've been arrested again?"  
  
He smiled and shrugged. "Just a technicality."  
  
"A judge is writing up the court order to release him officially as we  
speak. As it is, we have permission to keep him out of prison 'for his own  
safety' as long as he's secured," Matsui clarified. "I've got my pager, so  
I'll know the moment it comes through."  
  
Noa hesitated. "What happened? I don't remember much after the  
explosion...."  
  
"Shinobu saved us from certain death," Asuma explained cavalierly, sending  
a significant look to the others telling them to let him tell the rest of  
the story later, in private. "You were badly hurt by the blast, however.   
The doctors think your heart might have even stopped briefly, but it  
miraculously started again before they were on the scene. You were badly  
cut by flying glass, and your shoulder restraint dislocated one arm. The  
worst of it was internal, though- you had a collapsed lung... and a few  
other things." The look of anguish on his face while he listed these  
injuries was palpable. Anyone in the room could see that he was feeling  
sympathy pains as he talked.  
  
Wong continued where he left off after being nudged by Takeo. "They had to  
remove your spleen... and your appendix, too, but that was incidental- it  
was going to have to come out anyway." He smiled. "Nothing you aren't  
able to live without."  
  
"I'm not sure I lived through the battle," Noa said curiously. "I remember  
the explosion, sort of... then this light at the end of a long tunnel I was  
approaching... then waking up to see Asuma crouched at my feet. The rest  
is kind of a blur, but I could have sworn I wasn't breathing until I saw  
Asuma again...."  
  
A nurse came in and said a few words to Gotoh. He stepped out of the room  
with her for a moment, while everyone else chatted. Mostly, it was people  
telling Noa to get better soon, wishing her well, and the like. Any topics  
dealing with the actual incident, however, were completely ignored. Noa  
felt as if they were something, but decided she'd dig it out of Asuma  
later.  
  
Gotoh stepped into the room, and cleared his throat to attract everyone's  
attention. "Ah... ah. Excuse me, everyone, but I've been told our visitor  
hours are almost up. Asuma, you could probably stay, but they want to give  
her family a chance to see her, as well."  
  
"My FAMILY is here?" Noa exclaimed, startled. They never left their home  
island- never!  
  
"Come on, people, let's get out of here," Gotoh said, ushering everyone but  
Asuma out of the room. Before he shut the door, he turned to the two of  
them. "Asuma, you aren't allowed out of this room until Matsui gets  
confirmation of your release. Noa, I'm going to have to talk to you later  
about some unresolved issues with all this." After waiting for their nods  
of acknowledgement, he left.  
  
Suddenly, Noa remembered something. "Asuma, how's Alphonse?"  
  
Asuma grimaced. "Uh... I'll tell you when your parents are done visiting,  
okay?"  
  
"What? Why? Can't you just-"  
  
"MY LITTLE GIRL!" a pair of voices sobbed from the door. Two people, Noa's  
parents, burst in and ran to her bedside. Her mother quickly grabbed her  
hand, holding it fiercely. Her father glared at Asuma venomously before  
joining his wife in her vigil, putting a hand on Noa's good shoulder and  
squeezing reassuredly.  
  
"Mom! Dad!" Noa said, smiling and clasping her mother's hand tighter.   
"I'm so happy to see you."  
  
"Oh, my poor little angel," her mother whimpered back, tears dripping from  
her cheeks.  
  
"Relax, mom!" Noa cried. "I'm all right."  
  
"No, you're not," her father said sternly. "I feared this would happen. I  
warned you over and over again it could, and you never listened. Now,  
you'll probably never get married- how many men like women with scars all  
over them? I hope you'll finally take my advice and just leave this  
horribly dangerous line of work." Asuma twitched slightly.  
  
Noa glared at her father. "Dad, I've told you once, and I'll tell you  
again. I LOVE labors. Furthermore, I don't want to be seperated from As-  
Alphonse," she said, barely catching herself. Asuma twitched again. "I  
won't leave the force until they force me out."  
  
"And YOU!" her father said, moving in on Asuma. "How DARE you let her get  
hurt like this! You should have known better then to send her into this  
kind of situation- and after she risked everything to save you, too!" The  
labor officer winced, but didn't say anything in his own defence.  
  
"Dad!" Noa snapped. "Leave him alone!"  
  
Her father changed tacts instantly. "Dear... don't you WANT to find  
yourself a husband? You're already going to have problems, with all of  
these injuries, but-"  
  
"Yes," Noa said, her eyes quickly glancing over at Asuma before returning  
her attention on the man in front of her. "I DO want to find a husband.   
But I won't be able to live with a husband who won't let me be who I am-  
and I am a labor pilot in the SV2."  
  
"Do you really think you ever will?!" her father snapped. "Who could want  
to marry someone who spends their days risking their lives in order to  
publically HUMILIATE themselves! A labor pilot for the SV2, huh? You DO  
realize that makes you a laughingstock, don't you? If I had my way, you-"  
  
"Shut up," Asuma snarled, clanging his handcuffs against the metal railing  
on Noa's hospital bed. "She just got out of surgery, damn near lost her  
life, and yet all you can do is yell at her and insult her to her face. My  
father may have been bad, but at least he had some common sense and DIDN'T  
get into an argument with me the one time I was hospitalized."  
  
"She's an ingrate!" her father shouted. "Do you know how much we spent on  
her education? We were setting her up to be the perfect wife for a  
wonderful husband, and instead she goes off on this foolhearty quest to  
become a patlabor pilot!"  
  
"DEAR!" his wife snapped. Everyone turned to look at her as she comforted  
a tear-filled Noa. "I can't believe you said that!"  
  
Asuma looked at Noa for a little while, then back to her father. "If she  
wants a husband... WHEN she wants a husband... she'll have one, whatever  
she is. Now, leave her ALONE!"  
  
Noa's eyes widened at that proclamation. "Asuma..."  
  
Finally, her father 'got it.' He now, finally, understood why his little  
girl had risked everything to protect this man, why she got upset when he  
yelled at the boy, why she didn't want to stop working with labors, and why  
she was so adament about not leaving the SV2.  
  
"I'm sorry, Noa. It's just... I see you there, in that hospital bed, and  
it's just like what I've been seeing in my worst nightmares." He sighed.   
"I haven't slept much since I heard you went AWOL, and all of my fears came  
out at once... I think I need to step out for a bit and calm down. I...  
don't really mean most of what I said."  
  
Noa sniffed slightly, wiping the tears off her face. "I understand,  
dad...."  
  
Her mother went over to lead her husband out of the room so they could all  
calm down, leaving Noa and Asuma alone. Asuma sighed, pulled a tissue, and  
started dabbing her face, clearing away the tear stains.  
  
Noa hesitantly smiled up at him and took the tissue away. "Asuma. Was...  
what you just said... was that a proposal?"  
  
He scratched the back of his head uncertainly. "Well... I wasn't thinking  
about what I was saying, really. Your dad just got me angry enough to say  
just about anything.... If you DO want to get married some day, I wouldn't  
have any problem with it, though."  
  
Noa smirked. For some reason, she wasn't surprised- or upset- by that.   
"I'll hold you to that one day," she said.  
  
Asuma half-smiled nervously. "In that case, I have a feeling your father's  
going to get most everything he wants. Noa... we need to talk a bit.   
About some of the things Gotoh's going to want to talk with you about when  
he comes back."  
  
Noa's face fell. "Uh oh. I don't like the sound of that."  
  
"You're not going to like this," he said. Taking a deep breath, he  
continued, "Noa... you can't pilot for the SV2 any more. While they are  
not pressing charges, you DID damage police property while 'rescuing' me,  
and you WERE technically aiding and abetting a fugitive from the law.   
Gotoh knows that his superiors, especially those whose friends are going to  
be disciplined for being a part of the whole Schaft conspiracy, are going  
to want to do something to you... like transferring you or forcing you to  
resign. But you aren't likely to be in the SV2 any more."  
  
Horror dawned on Noa's face. "No... but, but... what about Alphonse?!"  
  
"He's being retired," Asuma stated slowly. "He's the only surviving  
Ingram- Ohta's in unrecoverable. Alphonse is in such bad shape that they  
plan to retire the whole line, and bring in more Zeros...."  
  
"But..." Fresh tears dripped down her face. "I guess I'd gotten used to  
the idea of one day losing him, but... I hadn't thought I'd be losing you,  
too."  
  
That took him by surprise. "What? Why would you be losing me?"  
  
Noa looked at him sadly. "Don't you see? You'll be part of the SV2 and I  
won't... and we BOTH know how little personal time that leaves us off-base.  
However we feel about each other, if we never are able to see each other-"  
  
"Well, actually, Noa," Asuma interrupted, somewhat uncertainly. "I'm not  
going to be part of SV2, after all."  
  
"You're not?"  
  
"No. I'm going to be part of Shinohara Heavy Industries."  
  
"You are?! But-"  
  
"Dad didn't quite leave me with the company," he explained. "He didn't  
trust me with it- instead, he put it in the hands of a 'board of trustees.'  
But I inherited a large portion of it- and his life insurance is actually  
paying off the inheritence taxes. It included one stipulation, however...  
one I'm not too happy with. I was planning to turn it down, inheritence or  
no inheritence, but after all of this I guess... well, the stipulation is  
that I have to leave SV2 and-"  
  
"Work for the company."  
  
Asuma nodded. "I selected my own job, though- I'm going to be involved in  
special project. The Patlabor contract, specifically... I'll be in charge  
of developing new labors for the police, fire and rescue, and maybe even  
military units." He paused, considering. "We may need a police liason  
with labor experience... know anyone who might be willing to take that  
position?"  
  
Noa smiled up at him. "Yeah... maybe I do. Maybe I do." She yawned.  
  
"Get some sleep. You need it."  
  
"Officer Noa Izumi, doing as ordered, sir," she said, smiling sleepily,  
before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.  
  
*****  
  
In the waiting room, Takeo sat sipping coffee with Richard Wong, Gotoh, and  
Shinobu. "By the way, Lt. Kumagami," Shinobu said, "Gotoh and I have a few  
things to discuss with you. An opportunity, if you will."  
  
"Oh?" Takeo said. "What is that?"  
  
"There's going to be a lot of turmoil in the police- and especially the  
SV2- after this. Section Chief Fukushima's being asked to resign, and I've  
been told I'm going to be promoted into his place," Shinobu began.  
  
"Izumi's going to be transferred out of the SV2," Gotoh continued. "Much  
to my disgust. Best labor pilot I've ever seen, and she's not going to be  
very effective anywhere else, I fear. At any rate, she's not the only one  
going, either- Ohta felt that he needed a transfer, fearing he'd ruined his  
ability to work with the others after his single-minded pursuit of  
Shinohara. I fear for our future, as he's going to be put in charge of  
labor training at the Academy. Shinohara, himself, is likely to resign due  
to some details in his father's will. Kanuka is, of course, returning to  
America some time soon, which means we're down both of our pilots and my  
two best substitutes."  
  
"We can't afford to lose another pilot," Shinobu continued. "Gomioka will  
remain Unit One's top labor pilot, whatever you decide, but you are not a  
pilot at all, and have never recieved any training in that regard. We were  
thinking of transferring Captain Gotoh to command of Unit One, and  
promoting you into Captain of Unit Two...."  
  
"I like the offer, Sir, Ma'am..."  
  
*****  
  
ONE MONTH LATER...  
  
"As usual, it seems Shinohara Heavy Industries is making the best offer,"  
the police representative said to the gathered negotiators. "Especially  
since we only have to pay for two of the three Zeros. But I'd like to  
know, why are you willing to trade a perfectly good Zero for an obsolescent  
Ingram?"  
  
Asuma Shinohara, the representative of Shinohara Heavy Industries, smiled  
slightly. "Well, Captain, I happen to have some experience with that  
particular Ingram. And, I believe, you'll note that we're insisting you  
let the maintenance team for Special Vehicles Second Section to repair it  
to the best of their ability before the trade in."  
  
"Yes, I noticed that."  
  
"Well, while I was WITH the SV2, I noticed that specific Ingram performing  
better than any other labor out there... including our Zeros. Since we  
developed its architecture, I know it has recieved a number of upgrades and  
customizations from the maintenance squad, and we wish to study them."  
  
The Captain frowned. "That could very well have been thanks to the pilot,  
you know. And we will not release the movement disk, as some of that  
information may compromise them."  
  
Asuma tried to stifle a laugh, and failed. "Didn't you know, Captain? My  
fiance piloted that Ingram for its entire career. I already HAVE a copy of  
the movement disk."  
  
The Captain flushed slightly. "Oh... of course. Well, I don't think there  
were any other irregularities... so, the Special Vehicles labor contract is  
being awarded to Shinohara Heavy Industries. We are currently undecided  
about the Traffic Control labors, however... will the negotiators of  
Shinohara Heavy Industries and Sangria Enterprises please return at 0800  
tomorrow to continue discussions?" After a couple of nods, he continued,  
"Very well. This meeting is adjourned."  
  
The representatives of a dozen labor manufacturers started milling about  
the room, talking to their peers and catching up on old times- or, in some  
cases, ribbing them good-naturedly. Asuma quickly made his way to the  
negotiator for the newest of these, Sangria Enterprises.  
  
"Well, well, well. Maybe I shouldn't have helped you out after all,"  
Richard Wong, president of Sangria Enterprises said, raising his hand.   
"Good job."  
  
Asuma took it, shaking his hand warmly. "Hello, Utsumi. I see the  
downfall of Shaft hasn't hurt you very much. In fact, seems to me you've  
made out like a bandit in the aftermath."  
  
Wong laughed. "Of course, of course. Surely you didn't expect otherwise?"  
  
They both laughed, then settled down and served themselves a cup of coffee  
each. "So, how did you wiggle all of Planning Division Seven away from  
Shaft, anyway?" Asuma asked.  
  
Wong shook his head dismissively. "Bah... I just took my stock in the  
company and used it to purchase away the only thing I wanted- namely, the  
development team of the Griffin and the construction facilities aboard the  
Sangria. They threw in the rest of the division because they were trying  
to get out of Japan, I guess- there are at least four other spinoffs, you  
know." He paused, then his watch alarm beeped. "Looks like I've got to  
go. Why don't you come with me? I want to know what you think of my new  
Vice President of Ethics. So you and Noa made it official, huh?"  
  
Asuma's smile turned rueful as he followed the other man out of the room.   
"Not... exactly. Oh, we're planning to get married someday, but not any  
time soon. But all of the tabloids are now talking about how the 'son of  
the greatest businessman in the history of mechanical industry' was seeing  
a lady cop, and so we said we were fiancees to the press. Well, I guess we  
did make it official, but we haven't set a date or anything."  
  
"I'm surprised the police agreed to keep her as the liason to Shinohara  
Heavy Industries after that was revealed."  
  
Asuma scratched his head. "Well, Gotoh and Shinobu both spoke up for her,  
and I added that if they forced her out of that job just because we'd  
gotten engaged, they could forget ever doing business with my company  
again. They relented." He paused as they approached the car. Wong  
knocked on the door, signalling to the person inside. "I had to do it.   
She wants to work in labors, and I want her with me. What can I say? I'm  
in love."  
  
They left the building, and approached the car that was waiting for Wong.   
He tapped on the door and signalled to the woman inside. She stepped out  
of the car, and Asuma gasped. "Asuma Shinohara... allow me to present my  
new Vice President in charge of Ethics... Takeo Kumagami."  
  
"Takeo!?"  
  
She smiled slightly. "What can I say? I'm in love, too."  
-------------------------  
I have an idea for a side-story sequel to this, where Ohta and the gang  
reunite during the second movie, and they talk about what happened in this  
story- sort of a redemption piece for Ohta. But this fic frustrated me so  
much that I'm not likely to do that for some time, if ever. Just know that  
Ohta's redemption was planned, even if it won't be written....  
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Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee   
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